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THE SOUL OF GERMANY 



THE SOUL OF 
GERMANY 

A Twelve Years Study of the People 
from Within 

1902-14 

BY 

THOMAS F. A. SMITH, Ph. D. 

Late English Lecturer in the University of Erlangen 




NEW YORK 

GROSSET & DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS 






Copyright, 1915 
By George H. Doran Company; 






iD^ 



^3^^5^ 






FEB 21:949 




■ CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Author's Prefatory Note ., i.j w i.j i*. vii 
I The German Home . . i.i i.; i.; r.i i 
^ II German Schools — Intellectual Bar- 
racks 17 

III German Universities — High Schools 

of Kultur and Brutality . . . .37 

IV Religion in the Fatherland . . ." ,. 60 
V National Character and Ideals . .. . 86 

VI The German Army and Courts-Martial 106 
VII The Germs of Aggression from Kant 

TO Nietzsche I34 

VIII Treitschke — Prophet and Historian . 153 

IX Treitschke's State and its Morality . 169 

X More Treitschkiana . . . . . -. 189 



XI "The Reptile Press ''' — Bismarck 

XII The Seamy Side of Kultur 

XIII Bauernfangerei . . . . 

XIV The Kaiser oe Kultur . . 
XV Naval Crescendo . 

XVI " Full Steam Ahead! " . . 

XVII Peace, War and Arbitration 



208 
224. 

243 
262 

289 
304 
328 



Appendix I. — Crime in the German Army and 

Navy 345 

Appendix II. — Crime in England and Germany 348 
Index .... ,., ..:... . <• •; •! • 35 1 



AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE 

A GREAT deal of interesting literature has appeared dur- 
ing the last decade treating of Modern Germany. The 
writer has studied a great many of these works, and has 
the feeling that none of them express what he felt and saw 
during twelve years spent in Germany. There is nothing 
of a derogatory nature implied in this remark, for the present 
author could name several works on German organization 
which deserve serious study. 

Most writers have, however, restricted themselves to some 
special features of German life, and in the most cases were 
objective observers. That is to say, they were Englishmen 
or Americans who did not know the language well enough to 
judge and feel from the German point of view, or were 
not in the least capable of " feeling German." The result 
has been that their writings provide for the most part valu- 
able descriptions of the outward and visible life of the nation, 
but they give no subjective reasons for these phenomena — 
they do not describe the life-blood pulsating beneath it all. 

Germans are very fond of asking foreigners the question, 
"Nun, haben Sie sich gut eingelebt?" ("Have you. got 
accustomed to the life?" or "Have you entered into the 
spirit of your surroundings? "). In reality it means a great 
deal more: " Have you lived yourself into your surround- 
ings, and become a part of them?" In order to reach that 

vii 



viii AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE 

stage a great deal of self-conquest is necessary; a great many 
years must be devoted to the language and customs, and in- 
cessant alertness in looking at things from the other man's 
point of view. The student must avoid his ovv^n country- 
men, and abjure his native language; above all, he must be 
equipped w^ith unlimited patience and inexhaustible sympa- 
thy. If he approaches everything and everybody with his 
own national tape-measure and preconceived standards, he 
will make little progress. 

Large numbers of Englishmen have wandered about 
Germany from hotel to hotel, and obtained information from 
waiters, hotel secretaries, and German-British Consuls. The 
conclusions of such students are worthless, but unfortunately 
many members of the House of Commons belong to this 
category, and when they have expressed opinions, their words 
have had weight. There are very few M.P.'s indeed who 
possess thorough first-hand knowledge of the German Em- 
pire. Yet Germany has occupied the entire stage of Eng- 
lish foreign policy for half a generation. 

The writer lays the greatest emphasis on the language 
qualification. An observer who is not able to feel the slight- 
est vibrations of the language — no matter what country he 
is studying — is labouring under a very real disability. Na- 
tives must not be conscious that a foreign element is in their 
midst, for that consciousness makes them no longer truly 
natural and themselves. 

After all, the language is the life-blood of national thought 
and motive, and only by knowing it and feeling it, so as 
to be able to identify himself with the nation, can an ob- 
server get to the heart of things. Most Englishmen whom 
the writer has met in Germany — and these include a good 
number who have posed in this country as authorities on 
Germany — merely floundered through the Fatherland, ask- 
ing: "What shall I do now?" "How shall I find out 



AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE ix 

this or that?" "What is expected of me?" — and so on. 
Many of them were delegates sent out at the public expense, 
ostensibly to study German methods — in reality to have a 
good holiday on the cheap. These gentlemen, no doubt, 
had a good time, and reported on the loving, kindly German, 
Mobile the latter vi^as amused and astonished at English in- 
efficiency. 

Each of the great European States may be compared to 
an infinite piece of patchwork. There is some sort of 
jumbled design about it, yet to draw conclusions from one 
of the small insets and apply them to the whole piece leads 
only to error. This point refers to authorities who have 
studied a city or province and ventured to write on seventy 
million people. 

Men who have not known half a dozen Teutons intimately, 
nor actually conversed with a couple of hundred, have 
favoured England with their experiences and conclusions, 
and unluckily they have been hailed as seers. 

No single writer is able to write with absolute finality 
upon so complex a mechanism as Modern Germany. What 
each believes he can prove or support by weight of evidence 
is worthy to be considered. But the present writer thinks 
it desirable for everyone who lays claim to speak with author- 
ity on Germany to state frankly what opportunities he has 
had, and the experiences upon which his theories are based. 
■ Hence the author takes this opportunity to inform his read- 
ers that he was so absorbed in the task of studying Germans 
^ and Germany, that he only visited his native country for 
sixty days during his twelve years' voluntary exile. He has 
mixed with every class of German, and never missed an 
opportunity to talk with the workman in field or factory — 
they all had something to teach. Above all, he has been in 
close touch with the intellectuals and official circles. For 
eight years he has been a civil servant in the Bavarian State 



X AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE 

service. He has lived for w^eeks at a time in the cottages 
of peasants, and been treated as a v^^elcome guest in the 
homes of the rich. 

A more detailed account of the writer's sojourn in Ger- 
many may be of interest. For four years he vi^as a language 
teacher in the Berlitz School for Adults, Nuremberg. In 
1905 he matriculated at Erlangen University and after eight- 
een months entered the service of the Bavarian State as 
English lecturer in the above university. In 19 10 he com- 
pleted his doctorate, and in the following year the State gave 
him the right to a pension which included complimentary 
Bavarian citizenship. The latter privilege he never made 
use of, and never had any intention of doing so. 

His relations with the German authorities were always 
of a cordial nature. On July 30th, 19 14, his wife became 
very anxious with regard to the crisis, and on the following 
day he left Erlangen to bring his family to England. War 
with Germany intervened and his return to that country be- 
came impossible. After serving the Bavarian State for so 
long he believed that his home and belongings would have 
been safe, especially as his contract — signed in 1 907 — ar- 
ranged for six months' notice on either side. 

But that contract has proved to be only a " scrap of 
paper." On October 22nd, 19 14, the Minister for Church 
and School Aifairs dismissed the writer from the Bavarian 
State service because he had left Germany — a course which 
was quite justifiable. But when the author appealed to the 
Bavarian Government to advance the salary due in lieu of 
notice, in order that his home might not be sold, he met 
with a curt refusal. 

Hence his late landlord distrained for £20 rent due on 
January ist, 1915, and his late master — the Bavarian State 
— distrained for £6 los. income tax due on the same date. 



AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE xi 

Since then no information has been forthcoming with regard 
to the sale, which took place early in January. 

Just before going to press a curious development has arisen. 
A long letter — seven foolscap pages — has arrived from 
the Bavarian authorities stating that the author is to be 
" tried " by the " Chamber of Discipline for State Officials '* 
in Nuremberg. The Minister for Education in Munich has 
ordered this course to be taken in a letter dated March 8th, 
191 5. All civil servants throughout Germany are subject 
to the various Chambers of Discipline, which bear a strik- 
ing resemblance to the Star Chamber. By these instruments 
the autocracy is able to smash any official who dares to think, 
speak, or act contrary to Its wishes. The procedure is, of 
course, secret, and against the Chamber's findings a victim 
has no power to appeal. Courts-martial keep the army and 
navy in order, while the Chambers of Discipline are a guar- 
antee that University professors, clergymen, teachers In the 
State schools and all other officials are docile — even supine 
to the will of the State. 

The offence cited in the " charge sheet " is Verletzung 
der Dienstpflicht (offence against service duty) and consists 
in expressing anti-German opinions in letters written to 
four Germans during December, 1914, and January, 19 15. 
The Committee has heard these four persons on oath and 
confiscated the letters. Three of them belong to the male 
sex, while the fourth Is an Invalid lady. She has been com- 
pelled to make a statement and give up five letters, which Is 
an apt illustration of German bullying. It is true the author 
wrote some severe strictures on Germany to his German 
friends and no one has any right to prohibit him from ex- 
pressing his opinions. 

At first glance it may seem remarkable that Herr Dr. 
von Knilling, Bavarian Minister for Church and School 



xii AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE 

Affairs, should dismiss the author from the Bavarian State 
Service in October, 1914, thereby freeing him from every 
kind of "service duty," and then decide six months later 
to try him for alleged offences committed after his dismissal. 
To the average English mind this may appear idiotic, but 
it is not so. The Bavarian authorities have been reminded 
that a contract exists, and the " Discipline Committee " is 
merely a trick to escape from their financial responsibilities. 
In Germany contracts and promises are only kept so long as- 
the other party has the power to compel a fulfilment. 

The said committee will resume its investigations after 
May 25th, by which time a copy of this work will be in 
their hands, and the author hopes it will enable them to ar- 
rive at a wise decision. The author presents his compliments 
to the chairman, Dr. Allfeld, Professor of Jurisprudence in 
Erlangen University, and trusts that the committee has suffi- 
cient sense of humour to recognize that their task is one for 
the genus asinorum. They are ordered to try a man who is 
outside their jurisdiction, for alleged offences against his 
" service duties " committed after the Bavarian State had 
voluntarily freed him from those duties. If the committee 
will postpone their sittings the writer promises to be pres- 
ent at this latest " Mad Hatters' Tea-Party.'' 

The author claims that he is able to speak with authority 
on Germany, and in support of that claim takes the liberty 
to quote extracts from two testimonials in his possession: 

MiNISTERIUM FOR ChURCH AND SCHOOL AfFAIRS, 

Munich 

'March nth, 191 1. 
I have known Dr. T. Smith for about eight years and 
have always found him to be a sincere and honourable gentle- 
man, with whom it is a pleasure to associate. In Nurem- 
berg and Erlangen he has moved in the best social circles. 



AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE xiii 

Through his position in the University of Erlangen and 
his work in the training seminaries for teachers in secondary- 
schools (the seminaries attached to the Gymnasium in 
Erlangen and the Realgymnasium in Nuremberg), I have 
been officially in very close touch with him. 

During his long sojourn in German, Dr. Smith has ac- 
quired a command of the German language — written and 
spoken — which deserves great praise. He stands in intimate 
official relationship to our schools and this has enabled him 
to gain an insight into our elementary and secondary school 
systems. 

Professor Dr. F. Bock, 
Member of the Ministerial Department for 
Secondary Schools, 

Royal Realgymnasium, Nuremberg. 

January 2gth, 191 1. 

The undersigned has had occasion during several years* 
acquaintanceship to form an estimate of Dr. Smith's ex- 
cellent character and also to observe the great esteem in 
which he is held among the Professors in Erlangen Uni- 
versity as well as by the authorities controlling the State 
schools. 

During a stay of more than eight years in Germany he 
has acquired not only a profound knowledge of German 
and an excellent command of the language, but also a great 
store of information concerning Germany's school system 
and universities. He has gained an exact knowledge of the 
work in German schools by personal inspection, through in- 
tercourse with the teachers of many educational institutions, 
through reading and theoretical studies, and partly from his 
earlier connections with a Nuremberg private school. Fur- 
thermore, he has obtained a good insight into the ways and 
means by which our teachers in secondary schools are exam- 
ined, as he has repeatedly assisted in Munich on those occa- 
sions. 

Finally, Dr. Smith has not neglected to study German 
national, social and private life, a proof of which has been 
the annual series of public lectures which he has held \ik 



xiv AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE 

Nuremberg, dealing with English and German institutions. 
At the University he has pursued his studies with zeal and 
gained the academic dignity doctor philosophise. 

Dr. Richard Ackermann, 
Vice-Principal. 

The author's knowledge is not confined to Bavaria, for 
he has spent the university vacations — about seven months 
every year — in travelling from end to end of Germany and 
Austria. He is quite at home in Breslau or Bremen, 
Munich or Berlin, Vienna or Prague, and hundreds of other 
cities, great and small, in the two Empires. His German 
acquaintances run into many thousands. Hundreds of his 
former students and pupils are now fighting in the German 
army. Of thirty-five students who attended his classes in 
the Summer Term, 19 14, twenty had been wounded and six 
killed when he last heard from Erlangen University in De- 
cember. Instead of 1,400 students there were only 380 
studying at Erlangen last winter, and most of those were 
expecting to be called up at any minute. 

All the large university buildings had been converted 
into hospitals, for Erlangen had 2,000 wounded to care for. 
His Nuremberg friends have informed the author that that 
city is one vast hospital. Yet all his correspondents em- 
phasized the fact, that Germans, undaunted by their sacri- 
fices, were prepared to make any and every sacrifice in order 
to smash England. 

The writer is convinced that even now, after eight months' 
war, the English nation does not realize the tremendous task 
in hand. Too much reliance has been placed upon " steam- 
rollers " instead of upon England's own strength. Respon- 
sible men in England have not confided to the nation how; 
great the task is, because these " responsible men " did not 
know it themselves when hostilities commenced. Stern facts 
have slowly opened their eyes, and just in proportion as theiu 



AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTE xv 

intelligence has perceived the grim work to be performed, 
they have — w^ith apparent reluctance — increased the sever- 
ity of England's measures against the greatest and bitterest 
enemy which has ever attacked this country. 

The author is greatly indebted to the Rev. N. Miller, 
B.A., Berkhamsted School, for reading the manuscript. He 
takes this opportunity of expressing his sincere thanks to this 
gentleman. In addition he must express gratitude to his 
friend W. Fiske, Watford, for suggesting the present work, 
without whose kindly assistance it would probably never have 
been undertaken. 

All in all, the author's sojourn in the Fatherland was a 
pleasant and instructive experience, and he affirms with all 
sincerity that he has no personal animosity against any Ger- 
man. Yet during at least eleven of those years he never 
wavered in his conviction that Germans look upon England 
as their Inveterate enemy, and hate her. That hate he met 
in all classej^ mixed with the hope that '* the day " would 
come when England would be broken and humiliated. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 



CHAPTER I 

THE GERMAN HOME 

READERS whose most cherished recollections 
in life are associated either with the " ances- 
tral," the " cottage " or the " free, fair homes of 
England " must necessarily feel an interest in the 
homes which have nourished the exponents of the 
gospel of brute force. Needless to say, Mrs. 
Hemans' little poem has no counterpart in German 
literature or in German life. England's freedom 
from invasion during six centuries explains why she 
possesses delightful villages, homely farmhouses, 
beautiful manors, stately halls and majestic castles 
which are the envy of the world. 

Charles Dickens preached the gospel '^ home,'' and 
in spite of the fact that he has found admirers and 
imitators amongst every literary people of the earth, 
no other nation has accepted the home as the founda- 
tion of national life to the same degree as England; 
no other nation esteems the influences of home higher 



^ THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

than the English; in no other land is it so easy to 
found a home, and nowhere else does the law protect 
the home as in England, which deserves the title — 
the Home of Homes. Above all, nowhere else are 
home affections so true and pure. 

The literature of a nation reveals its innermost 
thoughts, deepest yearnings and highest ideals. 
Therefore it is not surprising that England's litera- 
ture tells, in verse and prose, the great epic of home ; 
the sweetest songs to an English heart are not those 
which tell of " saddest thought," but of home joys 
and sorrows. And just as the home holds pride of 
place in our most enduring literature, so, too, the 
gospel of home is an essential part — not the least 
noble — of England's message and mission to hu- 
manity. 

If this be true, then England must be from the very 
nature of things an unrelenting enemy to the doctrine 
of the German Social Democrats who have declared 
war upon the institutions of family and home. 

A great deal has been written in praise of German 
home life, with a small part of which the present 
writer is able to agree. His observations have 
forced him to the generalization that German cottage 
homes are hovels; the homes of the middle classes, 
tenements under police supervision; and the homes of 
the rich, isles of exclusiveness. 

It is only fair, however, to admit that a great part 
of what is written here of German homes, applies 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY S 

equally to the home life of other lands. Neverthe- 
less, the writer believes the differences between 
English and German standards of honour, morality, 
commercial honesty, reverence for womanhood, sym- 
pathy for the downfallen, chivalry to the weak, con- 
ceptions of right and wrong as well as susceptibility 
for religious faith, are mainly due to the different 
positions which the home occupies in the life of the 
two peoples. 

Inseparable from the question of the home is that 
touching the honour and homage paid by a nation to 
Its womankind. Almost as much care is spent on the 
education of girls in Germany as on the education of 
boys. Even the small provincial towns possess well- 
equipped and staffed secondary schools for girls ^ 
which in the great majority of cases are supported 
and controlled by the municipal authorities. 

The curricula prevailing In the various States are 
liberal and enlightened in spite of the fact that the 
whole programme of studies Is mapped out by the 
Board of Education and must be rigidly adhered to 
in practice. Of course the Government Commission 
which draws up the curriculum, choosing and exclud- 
ing the subjects best adapted to form woman's mind, 
consists of men. The heads of schools and a large 
proportion of the teaching staff are always members 
of the sterner sex. Thus early in life girls are sub- 

1 Variously styled: hohere Made hens chule, or Tochterschule, Ly- 
zeum or Studienanstalt, etc. 



4 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

jected to male Influence ^ In the school, and probably 
acquire there that submlsslveness to mere man which 
IS so characteristic of German women. 

However excellent these arrangements may be for 
Improving the girls' mental calibre they are not the 
means to produce the highest types of womanhood. 
But It Is German system — to force the girl Into the 
prescribed mould so that the type of woman proceed- 
ing therefrom shall be the article best suited to Ger- 
man political economy, viz., a docile housewife. 

On leaving school the German girl Is well-educated 
(mentally) and knows a great many things of no 
value in this world or the next. But she knows them, 
and from the German point of view It Is not necessary 
for knowledge to be useful. 

As a rule Germans do not get knowledge In order 
to use It, that Is the despised aim of English utilitar- 
ianism ; Teutons cultivate Idealismus, Her training 
has been almost entirely intellectual; the German 
school — for either sex — is not the place to form 
character; neither has the grace and charm associated 
with a young " lady " played any considerable role In 
fitting her for life's journey. In spite of her knowl- 
edge she Is better equipped for the kitchen than the 
drawing-room.^ This Is just as It should be, for if 
she enters the matrimonial state the former is 
destined to be her future realm, outside which she 

2 Germany possesses private schools too, in which, generally- 
speaking, feminine influence prevails. 
^Mehr kiichen- als salonfdhig. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 5 

seldom shines. In that domain she forgets modern 
languages, maths., and other plagues of school life 
in order to fulfil her mission in life, i.e., mother and 
housekeeper. With sparen ^ as her motto she de- 
votes and sacrifices herself to the household and her 
children's material welfare. 

These virtues have gained for her the unstinted 
admiration of Germany's menfolk, who never tire in 
praising the German Hausfrau — and it is all de- 
served. But in just that, she has missed a still higher 
mission, the right and power to form the character 
and opinions of her children. Her sons look to her 
as a housekeeper, and therefore never learn that 
reverence for womanhood which inspires the noblest 
chivalry. Hence she fails utterly to instil any higher 
respect for her sex in the youth's heart than that 
which allows him to treat waitress and shop-girl as 
his playthings — to be replaced later by a " wife- 
housekeeper " of his own social standing. " The 
hand that rocks the cradle rules the world " is a moral 
not yet accepted and enforced by German mothers, 
yet they alone will ever be able to combat successfully 
the poison of Nietzsche's Herrenmoral, and the per- 
nicious teachings of Herr Bebel. 

In all the menial tasks of home the German wife 
stands par excellence, but in the national life, in 
checking its evil currents or inspiring its highest 
motives, she is a cipher. She accepts conditions as 

^ Sparen =: to economize, cut down expenses, save. 



6 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

they are, is too docile and unassertive, and sets too 
low a price upon herself. 

Woman in Germany has not yet learned to be a 
queen of tournament, commanding a noble code, but 
is still satisfied with the shallowest service of lip and 
eye. 

The marriage knot must in all cases be tied first in 
the municipal registry ofiice, a ceremony which is 
mostly succeeded by one at church on the following 
day. 

It is above all in the marriage market that German 
women make themselves exceedingly cheap. Girls 
of the lower classes exercise the greatest thrift in 
order to procure eine Ausstattung ^ and a little 
money, without which she has little hope of finding a 
Hans who will make her his housekeeper and slave. 
Having bought a man, her chief worry in life seems 
to be removed. 

Especially among the peasant classes women are 
little better than beasts of burden. From morn till 
eve, during all the seasons, they may be seen — young 
and old — performing the heaviest tasks connected 
with agricultural labour. 

Either the compulsion of dire necessity or the cold 
love of gain causes them to leave home and children 
to their own resources. On market days the woman 
carries the heaviest load, while in droughty summers 

^ Among all classes It is the invariable custom for the wife to 
provide furniture and other things necessary for a home. Die 
Ausstattung includes all the household effects of a home. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY T 

It IS an everyday sight to see her, bent nearly double 
in carrying a vessel containing about six bucketsful of 
water, fitted by straps on to the back, considerable 
distances to water the parched fields. Yet hers is a 
lot much desired and envied by her unmarried sisters I 

Without exaggeration it may be stated that in Ger- 
many every man has his price and Fraulein's deter- 
mination to make a purchase at all costs only tends 
to make the market price go up. Ofiicers command 
the highest figure. Next in order come university 
and professional men, while the mere man of business 
makes a bad third. 

Here again German littleness betrays itself in ex- 
quisite form. No German lady is addressed by her 
surname, e.g., Mrs. Jones; but always by her hus- 
band's title or position, whatever that may be, e.g.j 
Mrs. Doctor, Professor, Architect, or even Mrs. 
Chimneysweep, and joy of joys to German flappers 
(Backfisch), Mrs. Lieutenant! To be addressed as 
Frau Leiitnant and swank amid dazzling uniforms is 
a dizzy dream for which Gretchen must, and does, 
willingly pay thousands of pounds.^ 

6 No German officer may marry without his colonel's permission. 
This gentleman looks carefully — with the help of Germany's so- 
cial spy system — into the lady's social standing before giving his 
consent. If the officer is still a lieutenant the lady must further 
deposit a sum from three thousand pounds for infantry, up to a 
much higher figure if the man is in a crack regiment. By para- 
graph ISO in the Military and Naval Penal Code an officer in 
either service can be sentenced to three months' imprisonment in a 
fortress and dismissed from the service for marrying without offi- 
cial permission. 



8 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Only too frequently the sacrament of marriage has 
sunk in modern Germany to a sordid business bar- 
gain, entered into by the man without any other senti- 
ment than the desire to get his university or other 
debts paid and have a home provided for his worth- 
less self. 

Ladies with marriageable daughters leave no stone 
unturned in the hunt to find them suitable partners in 
life — but his suitability is reckoned only according 
to his social position and title. Only possible 
" chances " are encouraged to visit the family, and 
then no other marriageable girls are invited to dis- 
tract the intended victim. Friends and relations — 
who have no daughters to get off — are pressed into 
the conspiracy to obtain Gretchen as much Herr- 
enanschluss (gentlemen acquaintances) as possible. 
When matters proceed too slowly, even marriage 
agencies (the number of these is legion) and anony- 
mous advertisements are resorted to. 

All in all, the German mother looks upon marriage 
as the end and aim of her daughter's being; to attain 
this end she is generally prepared to obliterate her- 
self and on occasion to intrigue and scheme in a man- 
ner incompatible with her own or the daughter's 
highest womanly interests. Consequently the men- 
folk accept them on these terms."^ 

'^ The work which has been quoted several times, " Moral und 
Gesellschaft des 20. Jahrhunderts " ("Morality and Society in the 
Twentieth Century") contains a chapter which throws a lurid 
light on German women and the Geld-Heirat (money-marriage). 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 9 

When men meet together and a young lady's name 
IS mentioned, the next remark will almost certainly 
be of this kind: "Was bekommt sie mit? " or 
" Wie hoch schatzen Sie ihr Mitgift? " That is to 
say, how much hard cash will be paid down at her 
** marriage " ? According to the figure mentioned 
the young lady is an interesting topic of conversation 
or is dropped. 

Should one of the supermen feel inclined to offer 
her the position of housekeeper he will pursue dili- 
gent inquiries among his and her friends to discover 
whether the Mitgift (dowry) has been correctly esti- 
mated. If these sources fail him he proceeds to an 
Auskunftei (inquiry agency) and endeavours to get 
information about his prospective bride and her fam- 
ily through what is no other than a spying institution. 
There are branches and agents of these in every town 
and village, while no German newspaper is without 
such advertisements as the following: " Before get- 
ting engaged or married take up information about 
the dowry, bride's past life and family." ^ " Mar- 
Fritz Berolzheimer's picture is much blacker than that painted by 
the present writer. 

8 These inquiry agencies play an essential part in German busi- 
ness and social life. Every business house has a contract with one 
or more. The name of a new customer asking for credit is 
quickly 'phoned to the agency. An ordinary business inquiry .costs 
from one to three shillings; a full report about any person (such 
as are obtained before marriage) costs twenty shillings. Both 
sexes resort to them freely, and it would be impossible to walk 
through the principal streets of any important German city without 
noticing a dozen or more offices of that kind. 



10 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

riage. — I am seeking suitable husband for my niece '* 
(sometimes sister or daughter), " aged twenty- four, 
blonde, good-looking, fine figure; gets £2,000 down 
and more later. Box No. — ." "Official" (some- 
times officer) " in high position seeks the acquaint- 
ance of educated lady who must dispose of at least 
£10,000. Correspondence through parents or rela- 
tive not objected to. Secrecy a matter of honour. 
Address to, etc." 

In peace times it was impossible to read any issue 
of the Berliner Tagehlatt or the Frankfurter Zeitung 
without finding all sorts of marriage offers emanating 
from the Jewish world. These often begin with the 
word Schadchen, which means that the advertiser re- 
quires a commission of about two per cent, on the 
dowry. Schadchen is untranslatable, but the form is 
usually the following : '' Schadchen moving in the best 
circles is prepared to introduce gentleman to several 
rich young ladies, etc." 

It is exceedingly illuminating to think that your 
well-groomed German guest carries the art of spying 
into the '^ best circles " and exploits your family life 
to gain a commission by finding a husband for your 
daughter.^ 

Last summer an Englishman resident in Nurem- 
berg showed the writer a paper which he had been 

9 Wine-merchants, cigar dealers, moneylenders, etc., often ad- 
vertise for "gentlemen moving in good circles" who, in considera- 
tion for a commission otfi business done, will recommend or intro- 
duce their wares to the besseren Kreisen, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 11 

asked to sign by such a private marriage-agent. The 
document set forth that the agent was prepared to 
introduce Mr. A. to Fraulein X. If an engagement 
followed between them Mr. A. undertook to pay £15 
and after marriage a further £45. 

Mitgifts determine German marriages, and ac- 
cording to German notions of arranging these unions 
it is " diamond cut diamond." Parents discreetly 
circulate rumours of their daughter's dowry; the 
young men, for their part, use every means which spy- 
ing places at their disposal to see if the figure quoted 
is a mythical one. 

One Teuton was not in the least ashamed to tell 
the author that he had been engaged three times, and 
each time his prospective father-in-law had been un- 
able (or unwilling) to fulfil the hopes previously 
raised in regard to the dowry. 

Cases reported from German law courts afford 
ample proof that the marriage market is a happy 
hunting ground for adventurers, while a closer knowl- 
edge of German life goes to show that the German 
genius for gathering information, for making in- 
quiries, for secrecy and spying, has found no domain 
where it is so active as in the " heaven " where mar- 
riages are made. 

How many German " homes " have sprung into 
being through these match-making, sordid intrigues it 
would be impossible to determine. It is only of 
interest to know that they are the accepted standards 



12 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

and methods, and having once established this fact, 
the large and increasing number of divorces ^^ is a 
phenomenon which requires little further comment. 

Returning to the homes of cottagers and peasants, 
a German cynicism best describes their cleanliness and 
comfort. It runs thus : " Why is the air in the 
country so fresh? Because the peasants never open 
their windows! " 

German cottages contain a minimum of comfort 
and, except in the mountainous districts, are seldom 
picturesque ; even there the inhabitants have a strong 
objection to fresh air within their homes ! The best 
that can be said of the peasantry, is they are a hard, 
brutal, thrifty race, placing little value upon the re- 
finements of life and seemingly possessing no inclina- 
tion to acquire them. Dour and revengeful, quarrel- 
some and ever ready with the knife, they never allow 
a village festival to pass without knifing events or 
the smashing of beer-mugs on each other's heads 
being duly chronicled in the local press. To them 
home is merely a place to sleep, but they have an ad- 
vantage over the myriads of dwellers in towns in that 
they may sleep under their own roof-tree, while with 
few exceptions the greater part of Germany's popula- 
tion is condemned to exist in flats. 

^^ In 19 1 3 no fewer than one thousand eight hundred and eighty 
marriages were dissolved in Bavaria, which is for the most part a 
Roman Catholic country, in spite of the fact that the Roman Catho- 
lic Church is bitterly opposed to divorce. Divorce statistics on 
page 231. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 13 

The privacy and seclusion which an Englishman 
values so highly is under German conditions un- 
known. Usually the landlord occupies one of the 
flats, generally that on the ground floor. On enter- 
ing the house one of the first things which strikes the 
eye is a placard containing some twenty numbered 
paragraphs, comprising the Hausordnung (rules for 
the house) — what you must or must not do. A 
tenant is informed in the house rules when he may 
play the piano and how he may water the flowers on 
the window-sills, etc. The landlord is the house po- 
liceman, so that even the German better-class homes 
are not free from barrack-yard discipline. Your 
comings and goings are duly observed, those of vis- 
itors likewise. 

Germans are naturally quarrelsome, so that in the 
space between the common wash-house in the base- 
ment and the common drying-room under the roof, 
suflicient points of contact and conflict will be found 
to engender strained relations for the best part of the 
year. Under the. roof there are several small cham- 
bers (or kennels) ranged round the big drying-room. 
These are the bedrooms of girls in service in the 
various flats, which is an excellent institution for 
satisfying the insatiable German inquisitiveness ! 
Further, it gives the servants the opportunity — sel- 
dom missed — of receiving nocturnal visits and of 
making nocturnal excursions to dances during the car- 
nival season. 



14* THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Many of these flats are elegant, spacious and ex- 
pensive, yet they are not conducive to that home at- 
mosphere and security which has given rise to the 
popular phrase, " An Englishman's house is his 
castle." In other days it may have been otherwise, 
but modern German homes seem to exercise little 
power of attraction upon their owners. The whole 
atmosphere is one of restraint and condensed stiff- 
ness, genuine German propriety and order. One 
never feels free and easy, and even between families 
connected by intimate ties of friendship the exchange 
of visits is always characterized by formality. 
There is nothing of a " drop in " or " call round at 
my place " style in German friendships, and there are 
no German idioms by which these phrases could be 
rendered in that language. The kindly cordiality 
hidden beneath such expressions is a feeling foreign 
to German character, and entrance to a German home 
is something of a tremendous nature, a state occasion, 
and the behaviour on both sides must be correspond- 
ingly dignified. 

If the Teuton thinks anything of his home, then his 
idea is to be shut out from the world, to have a corner 
entirely to himself, and there much the same spirit 
prevails as that depicted in Tennyson's " Palace of 
Art." The best German homes aptly illustrate the 
national egoism. 

"When talking of England Germans expressed 
amazement at the ease with which they could get their 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 15 

sons and daughters accepted in better-class English 
familles.^^ No conception of the home as a sort of 
beacon light shedding its divine influence beyond its 
own borders has ever dawned upon the Teutonic im- 
agination. A German's highest idea of home is to 
have a place entirely sacred to himself. 

Yet it is rare for a German's centre of gravity to 
lie near his own hearth. The innumerable coffee- 
houses, restaurants and beer-gardens in the summer 
time bear witness to the fact that the German is not 
a home-loving being; he prefers to see and be seen 
amid the glaring lights of public places. 

On Sundays, from midday till midnight, it is diffi- 
cult to find a vacant chair in them ; if German families 
wish to meet each other the invariable rendezvous is 
at the coffee-house or restaurant. An advantage, 
perhaps, is the extra work consequent upon entertain- 
ing at home is avoided, and it is an easy, inexpensive 
manner of displaying the charms of marriageable 
daughters. Yet it proves how far the average Ger- 
man has reversed the usual order of things and made 
the restaurant his home, while his flat has become his 
hotel. Even the inevitable Kaffeekrdnchen (coffee 

11 A young German compelled to live away from home is never 
able to get into a good family. He takes a bedroom and boards 
in the restaurants. When advertising for such a room he generally 
states that the room must be ungeniert or sturmfrei, which means 
that the landlady must make no complaints if members of the other 
sex visit him. By this means the widespread systems of liaisons 
{Verbdltnissystem) flourishes. It is to the credit of young Eng- 
lishmen that they could more easily get into good families thaa 
young Germans could. 



16 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

circle) , so dear to German women, has its venue In a 
public coffee-house. 

German home-life Is a loose conception and the 
home exercises little or no Influence on Germany's 
sons and daughters. It may be that the enormous 
commercial prosperity of the last forty years has 
hastened the undermining process, or It may be that 
this phase of German " progress " Is right and our 
old-fashioned system Is wrong, but the essential fact 
remains, that the Institutions as they exist suit admir- 
ably the German love of ostentation. Yet the price 
paid Is high: the Influence of home as a factor In na- 
tional life has disappeared, and the garden where 
noble characters are grown has been handed over to 
serve as building sites for restaurants and coffee- 
houses. 



CHAPTER II 

GERMAN SCHOOLS INTELLECTUAL BARRACKS 

IT has been very truly said that Germany is the 
world's schoolmaster, and like many another of 
that profession the Fatherland has fallen into the 
error of believing that the rod — in this case the 
mailed fist — is an end in itself. Nevertheless, the 
world owes a great debt to our Teutonic cousins for a 
long list of great pedagogues, as well as for the sys- 
tem of schools which have been models for the rest 
of the world. 

As this chapter is not written solely for schoolmas- 
ters, the technicalities will be dealt with in broad out- 
line, but at the same time a serious attempt will be 
made to define the aims — avowed, or unconscious — 
pursued, and the results achieved in German schools. 

In 1870 England began in earnest to educate the 
masses; in so doing she copied a great deal from the 
Institutions on the other side of the North Sea. 
According to statistics there are fewer illiterates in 
Germany than any other country of the world; 
this fact, however, does not deter the writer from 
affirming most positively, that in forty-four years 
this country has equalled, and In some respects sur- 
passed, her former models. The average English 

17 



as THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

boy or girl on leaving an elementary school has an 
intellectual equipment at least equal to his German 
cousin, but in those qualities which fit the individual 
to adapt himself to life and the higher virtues charac- 
terized as " duty towards one's neighbour," he or 
she possesses decisive advantages. German teachers 
Impress upon their charges with infinite fidelity the in- 
dividual's duty to that vast incubus which presses 
upon every phase of the national life — the State ; but 
the elementary principles of chivalry he neglects.^ 
In short, the fundamentals of humanitarianism are 
not the chief aim of German elementary schools, but 
rather to create disciplined loyal citizens, unquestion- 
ingly obedient to the State. 

The four and a quarter million votes given to 
Social Democrats at the last Reichstag election prove 
that even In their chief aim German schools have 
failed, although the manner in which German soldiers 
are fighting for their Fatherland supports the con- 
tention, that the same schools have succeeded In 
teaching patriotism. In superficial politeness, such 
as raising the hat to all and sundry, knocking at the 
door before entering a room, standing bareheaded 
when speaking to a superior, etc., the German lad 

1 Dr. Karl Peters, in his book on England, emphasizes the teach- 
ing in all our schools as inculcating the principles of fair-play; 
two boys do not pitch on to one, nor a big boy attack a little 
chap; if in a fight one isi knocked down, his opponent waits till he 
is up again; English boys learn to respect the weaker sex, etc. 
Peters, among other German authors, deplores the absence of these 
qualities in the youth of Germany. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 19^ 

can give an English schoolboy points, but in true de- 
cent feeling, kindly consideration towards elders and 
his fellow '' men " in general, the writer maintains 
that the youth of England are a long way ahead. 
The outward form does not always reveal the inner 
motive, and on countless occasions he has observed 
the German girl curtsy, the schoolboy obsequiously 
lower his cap almost to the ground, and the soldier 
salute with wooden rigidity — only to make a grimace 
In the next instant, or for the expression of profound 
respect to become a sarcastic snigger — when discov- 
ery seemed impossible. It Is natural to conclude 
from these small " feathers " which way the wind 
blows ; that the sign of respect given to the teacher is 
the result of the inevitable " must," and not a tribute 
to the schoolmaster's character; that the soldier's 
Ehrenzeichen Is given to his superior's uniform and 
not to the man in It. Ehrenzeichen is a word written 
In bold characters on the life-path of the German. 
In school he learns to render It almost to a degree of 
servility, and his subsequent military service Incul- 
cates still more obsequiousness to the brink of inner 
revulsion. It Is the foundation of that outward punc- 
tiliousness which characterizes German life, irrespec- 
tive of inward motive or sincerity. Exteriors must 
always be absolutely '' correct," but the average Teu- 
ton troubles himself little as to what is concealed be- 
neath them. In fact he accepts It as a part of life's 
game — dust In the other man's eyes — and In super* 



20 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

ficlal politeness with diplomatic motives, the simula- 
tion of reverence and sincerity, the German is a past- 
master. Cringing would be a plain Anglo-Saxon 
term for this quality, and this characteristic quality 
of German life is usually a mantle for insincerity or 
even concealed malice. 

The schoolmaster is content that the forms of 
respect due to him are shown, in fact he mercilessly 
insists upon them; but it is indeed rare that he en- 
deavours through his own personality to inspire them. 
The young German does not obtain those qualities in 
his school which are the basis of true character, viz., 
the right respect for himself, and reverence for God 
and goodness in other men. But, on the other hand, 
he has absorbed an element of poison in that he has 
learned to look upon polite exteriors as vital. 

In the streets of German villages and towns it is 
possible to observe every few minutes two acquaint- 
ances who have stopped to chat, raising and deeply- 
swinging their hats at meeting and leave-taking, 
several times in as many moments. Neither means 
anything, possibly they are bitter rivals or even hate 
each other, yet both will observe these slavish forms 
of politeness, and either of them would be deeply 
offended at any omission on the part of the other. 

During his first weeks in Nuremberg the writer 
was amazed at the amount of awe which seine kleine 
Wenigkeit inspired in his acquaintances. He did not 
look upon this adulation as a tribute to himself, but 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 21 

admits that at first he was betrayed into considering 
it sincere respect for his country and nationality. 
Twelve months, however, sufficed to dispel even that 
illusion; it is simply the German's conception of 
'' playing the game." He uses this weapon to throw 
dust in the eyes of his enemy, to curry favour with his 
superiors, to express his respect for women of virtu- 
ous and light character, to deceive his friends and at 
the same time possibly deceive himself. 

But there is another lesson which German schools 
Inculcate with no less thoroughness, that is best ex- 
pressed by the word must. The child must go to 
school, he must learn, he must be quiet and orderly; 
In short — he must obey. There are no absentees 
— except for illness ; parents must send their children 
to school, and as they, years before, have been to 
school and learned " must," they send them. 

The German State Is a stern father; In effect it 
says : " You must go to school in order to become a 
good citizen for my, and your own, welfare. You 
must serve in the army, so as to be able to defend 
me. You must die for me, if I so will it." There 
are a good many " musts " in the life and death of a 
Teuton, but those three are perhaps printed largest. 

School-life is not softened or enlivened by sports, 
although there are a number of lessons given in the 
open air, but the teacher accompanies his class on 
such occasions, as if he were a field-marshal con- 
demned to march with a squad of soldiers. It Is un- 



m THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

professional for him and utterly infra dig. to unbend 
and become a comrade or friend. 

To sum him up, his appeal — based on strict peda- 
gogic principles — is directed to the child's head — 
never to his heart; whereby the aim of the German 
school is attained of helping to make machines of 
human beings, with this result, too, that the latter 
cherish little affection for their school In after-life. 

Unfortunately these schools, as well as the State 
Secondary Schools, have become the principal arena 
for the bitter struggle waged uninterruptedly In Ger- 
many since the Reformation, between Protestants 
and Catholics. 

As far as circumstances will possibly allow the 
children of the two great branches of Christianity are 
taught separately, and only by men professing their 
faith. They learn to look upon each other with sus- 
picion, often mingled with contempt, while both learn 
to despise most heartily children of Hebrew parents.^ 
Instruction in some religion or other Is compulsory; 
would It not be better to drop it out of the curriculum 
entirely, rather than reduce it to the dead level of the 
other brain-drill subjects? 

Every child has his book of catechism and another 
of Bible history, both duly approved by the powers- 
that-be ; each part of the former Is supplemented by 

2 Religious distinctions are even carried into the playground. 
A rich Nuremberg Jew, for whom I have profound respect, told 
me that the children of Jewish families were practically ignored 
in the playground, and thus forced to play alone. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 23 

Luther's interpretation In smaller type; both text and 
elucidation have to be committed to memory. In 
like manner stories and sayings from the Bible, 
together with hymns, are crammed into the child's 
memory. The teacher may not think for himself in 
giving an interpretation, much less so his pupils ; the 
German Church and State are indeed careful to pre- 
vent error or heresy from creeping into their fold ! 

It is systematized religion, in which the part of 
the teacher is very clearly defined, but a system in 
which the wonderful heroic stories, the simple faith, 
the glorious poetry, the splendid lessons of right and 
wrong-doing to be found in the Old Testament lose 
their power, and dull instead of firing the youthful 
imagination, and a system in which the lustrous per- 
sonality of Jesus Christ, the Sermon on the Mount, 
as well as the Acts of the Apostles, are scientifically 
reduced to the limits of a dry-as-dust catechism. 
The limits are indeed so confined that no room has 
been found for either " My duty towards God " or 
" My duty towards my neighbour." It is not sur- 
prising, therefore, if the children of the masses leave 
school at the age of fourteen with a false conception 
of real values, with a predisposition to judge by ex- 
teriors, with the feeling that they are Germans, but 
of little account in the great organism called the 
State, with no idea of the truth so deftly expressed in 
Burns' poem, " A man's a man for all that," and 
lastly without the necessary ballast to character. 



24 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

What wonder If they fall victims to the doctrines 
of envy, class-hatred, and atheism so assiduously 
taught by the Social Democratic party; what wonder, 
too, if religion means to their " drilled " imagination 
something infinitely more worthless than arithmetic. 

Sir Joshua Fitch, in his " Lectures on Education," 
compares a perfect system of national education to a 
pyramid; the base, elementary schools on which sec- 
ondary education is built up to support an apex of 
universities. No country has approached nearer to 
the realization of this ideal than Germany. After 
three or four years in a " People's School " (or in the 
preparatory schools which exist in many cities), the 
boy ^ proceeds at the age of ten to one of the State 
Secondary Schools. 

There are three distinct types, viz., Gymnasium 
(full classical school, their inception dates from the 
Renaissance) ; Realgymnasium^ in which English is 
compulsory in the place of Greek; Oberrealschule, 
without classics. In each type of school the normal 
course lasts for nine years, but after six years an ex- 
amination takes place which gives successful candi- 
dates the right to serve only one year in the army; 
further, this certificate admits its holders to the lower 
branches of the civil service, the post, railway, tele- 
graph and telephone departments. 

Naturally the sons of the lower middle-classes 

^The children of the working classes remain In the elementary- 
schools till the age of fourteen and afterwards attend continuation 
schools till the age of seventeen. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 25 

leave school In considerable numbers on obtaining the 
*' one-year " certificate. Those, however, who com- 
plete the course receive a certificate which admits 
them to any German, Austrian or Swiss universit}% 
cadet schools for the army or navy, the higher 
branches of the civil service, as well as many other 
institutions or administrative authorities. 

Matthew Arnold wrote that the knowledge gained 
during nine years in one of these classical schools is 
equal to that necessary to take an Oxford or Cam- 
bridge B.A. pass; in our days, though, this compari- 
son would probably no longer hold good. The 
course Imposes an almost unheard-of amount of 
grinding on the pupils, but those who aspire to the 
learned professions and the higher walks of life must 
pass through one of these three courses. In common 
parlance the Gymnasium is dubbed the Penal and a 
scholar a '^ Pendler.^' Although the etymology of 
these words is too doubtful to assert that they have 
the same origin ^ as our word penal, yet they are 
always employed in that sense. 

It is true, corporal punishm.ent has been absolutely 
banished from these institutions, nevertheless an iron 
discipline prevails. The lad is addressed as " thou '* 
up to the age of fifteen, and then he may claim the 
more formal and respectful " you," but throughout his 
school career he never receives a blow from either 

'* Some authorities give the Latin penna as the possible deriva- 
tive. 



26 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

teacher, professor or school rector. He learns to 
look upon a blow as a mental, moral and physical 
humiliation, which may not even be inflicted upon a 
convict; yet the subservience which he must show to 
his mentors under the style of das Ehrenzeichen (sign 
of respect) is probably in its final results more de- 
grading than corporal chastisement. At any rate the 
author is convinced that this doctrine of the sacred- 
ness of his person against physical punishment fills 
young Germany's head with an exaggerated idea of 
his importance, leads to a state of morbid sensitive- 
ness, and lays the foundations of the system known 
as a " code of honour," which would be more cor- 
rectly described as " diseased egoism." 

Such, however, is the case, and even the use of sucK 
an expression as '' Oh, you ass, Brown VI. ! " to a' 
bigger boy would involve the master who employed 
it in most serious difficulties. In fact if he refused 
to retract and apologize his pupil could begin a law- 
suit against him for insult! Yet these same lads, 
when they meet a member of the staff, must bow to 
him in a manner which calls to mind a picture of Sir 
Walter Raleigh bending before his imperious mis- 
tress. This leads naturally to an atmosphere of pet- 
tiness and a state of war between pupils and their 
masters known as " pin-pricks." 

When the writer's son entered one of these schools 
he duly received a printed copy of the regulations 
issued by the Minister for Church and School Affairs^ 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY m 

One clause especially aroused his (the writer's) In- 
dignation and pity. It ran thus : '' Jede Selbsthllfe 
1st verboten " (Every sort of self-help Is forbidden). 
In any quarrel between boys the aggrieved party must 
report it to a master or the rector. Should he take 
measures to obtain rough-and-ready justice, he at 
once becomes the aggressor and would receive any 
punishment which may be meted out. Punishments 
take the form of reprimands, detention, warning, In- 
terview with the rector, Dimittiern (the pupil may 
enter another Bavarian school) and Excludieren, In 
which case no Bavarian State school would admit 
him. 

No Englishman requires to be told that such insti- 
tutions become hot-beds of tale-telling. In German 
it is called Denunziation, a disease by no means re- 
stricted to schoolboys or their masters, but a cancer- 
growth with infinite roots spread throughout the na- 
tion. 

The schoolboy runs to the rector with tales about 
his master; the rector, too, must be very " correct," 
or a spying master will report his comings and goings 
to the Minister for Church and School Affairs. Ger- 
mans designate the tale-teller's virtue by the dignified 
name of Pflichtgefuhl (feeling of duty), and it is 
easy to imagine such a Denunziation commencing: 
" I, Michel Deutsch, feel myself prompted by my 
feelings of duty to my Fatherland and Superiors to 
report most humbly, etc., etc.," ad nauseam. 



28 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

If necessary, a whole volume might be filled witH 
examples from the author's personal observation, 
only such compositions are nauseous even in the re- 
peating. This conclusion must, however, be stated, 
that in German internal affairs, in schools and univer- 
sities, in her Church and army, in the counting-house 
and the court, indeed everywhere, spying and tale- 
telling form just as essential a part of the great sys- 
tem, as they do in her relations with other lands. 

Just as in the " People's Schools," there are also no 
sports in the State Secondary Schools. In Bavaria' 
football was prohibited in all State schools about 
three years ago; the official justification being tha£ 
this game cultivated roughness and ungentlemanly 
behaviour; but the real reason was doubtless the mor- 
bid sensitiveness already mentioned. 

Both among teachers and taught there Is far too 
much petty jealousy and hostility to allow the healthy, 
vigorous rivalry associated with sport to flourish. 
Too many morbid egos would feel themselves insulted 
and injured in such rude games. Still, every school 
has an excellently equipped gymnasium and generally 
two hours weekly are devoted to physical exercises. 
This side of German education is always relegated to 
a drill teacher who is almost without exception a 
pensioned N.C.O. 

Some ^ve years ago the Prince Regent of Bavarlai 
(since deceased) instituted an annual games festival 
for competitions In field sports between the various 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^9 

schools In each town. But these " friendly " affairs / 
let loose such a flood of envy and ill-feeling between 
the various schools, that the whole arrangement has 
been reduced to displays without classification. \ 

In July, 19 14, the writer attended one of them. 
The heat was intense: not more than a score of 
parents (mostly members of the fair sex) were pres- 
ent — In spite of an excellent military band. The 
drill master. In frock coat and silk hat, standing on a 
platform, gesticulated and shouted commands, while 
his august "colleagues'* (?) and rectors paraded 
with haughty aloofness, giving expression to real 
Teutonic gall and bitterness. The boys showed no 
interest and everybody was heartily glad when " the 
concluding remarks " were actually concluded. ^ 

The German schoolmaster Is too learned, self-im- 
portant and self-conscious to stoop to the level of his 
pupils. He Is an excellent pedagogue, but his dignity 
forbids that the gulf between him and his charges 
should ever be bridged over. No human link may 
connect them ^ because it is against his principles to 
exercise any humane influence upon them. f 

Herr Kirschensteiner, the founder of trade schools, 

5 In the month of May the various classes spend a day in the 
country. The master plans the outing, which is always on foot. 
On one occasion a class of boys put together their halfpennies 
and procured a bottle of light table wine to lend a relish to their 
master's lunch. This gentleman rejected the gift with undisguised 
indignation, accompanied his boys to the innkeeper, and saw that it 
was exchanged. The same man related this incident to rae as if 
he had performed a virtuous deed. 



30 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

relates in one of his educational works that a Second* 
ary School Teachers' Congress, held in Munich, 
passed a resolution to the effect that they had nothing 
to do with formation of character in the school. 
Their duty was simply to impart knowledge and train 
the mental faculties; questions relating to character 
are matters for the nursery and home. How differ- 
ent indeed are England's ideals and methods I Just 
as in all other branches of German life the individual 
must submit to authority and allow himself to be 
absorbed by the mass. 

The German Government does not wish any of its 
schools to teach self-reliance or independence of 
thought and action; it is no part of the school's duty 
to cultivate in the individual a conscience which is to 
become his king. The dictates governing a man's 
actions, the motives inspiring his deeds must not come 
from within, the State will supply those — from with- 
out. In this manner educated automata are created, 
whose impulses of motion do not radiate from within, 
but from a brain-centre outside them. 

Recently the Press contained reports of a motor- 
boat which can be propelled by wireless ; the mechanic 
sitting in a wireless-station is said to have been able 
to manoeuvre a boat by means of wireless telegraphy. 
That is the ideal underlying the State theory; citizens 
are so many mechanical units moved and controlled 
by the great central wireless-station — the State. In 
military matters Germany has practically realized 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 31 

this dream, but not in any other branch of the national 
system, although her school system approaches very 
near to this ideal. 

For more than a decade hatred of England, 
coupled with the teachings of Germany's world mis- 
sion, has been propagated by wireless through Ger- 
man schools. It would be exceedingly difficult, in 
fact impossible, to put one's finger on the source from 
which these wireless messages have emanated. Yet 
the fact remains that this process has been going on 
in class instruction, in lectures, reading books,^ charts 
on the wall and all the other apparatus of school hfe. 
The writer, during his twelve years' sojourn in Ger- 
many, has been in contact with at least several thou- 
sand masters, professors and rectors (the last-named 
are of course not clergymen), while a few hundreds 
of his former pupils are now engaged in German State 
schools — providing they have not been called to the 
colours — and he is regretfully compelled to record 
that he found only bitter dislike, or at best smoulder- 
ing suspicion of England among this class. That 
they have not neglected the opportunities afforded 
: them by their position is beyond doubt, otherwise the 
" venom towards England which he found in German 
schoolboys, schoolgirls and students {Freshmen) in 
the university, would be inexplicable. 

6 In many of the reading books for teaching the English lan- 
guage German boys read selections of opprobrious terms, which, 
it is alleged, the English employ when speaking of Germans, e.g. 
" dirty German," etc. 



3a THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Only last July his son reported a lesson In which 
the class — average age eleven — had been informed 
that the French army was no good, the Russians 
rotten, and England had no army worth speaking 
about. If such instruction can be imparted when the 
master knows perfectly well that an English boy is 
sitting on one of the benches, one naturally wonders 
what its purport would be under less embarrassing 
conditions. 

There are two lessons which have certainly been 
hammered well home in the young mind, and these 
are : England is a ruthless robber who from sheer 
motives of envy and lust of power has in turn smashed 
Holland, Spain and France — Germany's turn comes 
next, because she is now England's commercial and 
naval rival. Nelson's bombardment of Copenhagen 
without any previous declaration of war is an Instance 
which every German has heard In proof of England's 
treachery. The nation has been led to believe that 
England meditated a sudden, treacherous attack of 
that kind on harmless, unprepared Germany. Hang- 
ing close at hand were the charts on the class-room 
wall showing the statistics of the English and German 
fleets. 

Some few years ago the Kaiser wrote a private let- 
ter to Lord Tweedmouth, then First Lord of the Ad- 
miralty, protesting against the agitation in England 
about the German menace, and especially against the 
German fleet alone being used for purposes of com- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 33 

parison by the agitators. In that letter, which has 
been published in the Times since the war broke out, 
the German Emperor is entirely silent about the fact 
that In the Fatherland Itself no other comparison 
whatever has been dreamt of; certainly in the State 
schools, that has been the official standard In order to 
educate young Germany In the naval idea J 

The other conception of England which countless 
Germans accept as an historical fact Is that Eng- 
land always plays the role tertius gaudens (the laugh- 
ing third) . She stirs up strife between any two pow- 
ers, and keeps out of the fight herself in order to seize 
the profits. 

All that has been written about religious instruc- 
tion In the elementary schools applies to the higher 
institutions, except that the results are more deplor- 
able. The young men who proceed from the higher 
schools are often frankly atheistic or cynically Indif- 
ferent. 

They say they are satt (satiated) of religious 
teaching, and are only too happy to escape from the 
compulsory divinity-cramming In the schools. An- 

■^ The author's opinions on German schools are based upon per- 
sonal visits to cities and schools too numerous to mention. Between 
September loth, 1913, and March 20th, 1914, alone, he lectured in 
over one hundred German and twenty-five Austrian Secondary 
State schools, and visited among many more the following cities: 
Hannover, Dresden, Cologne, Magdeburg, Diisseldorf, Berlin, Mu- 
nich, Frankfort, Breslau, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Prague, 
Vienna and Gratz. This was in one winter, and he has spent 
his vacations, etc., in this way since 1909. 



S4< THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

other opinion freely held among them Is that " die 
Religion ist ja keine Wissenschaft " ('* Religion is 
not a science "), and a branch of learning which is 
not an exact science excites little respect among edu- 
cated Germans. 

Another factor which the observer misses In Ger- 
man life is the absence of " Old Boys' Associations." 
You will look for them in vain, because all Germans 
look back to their schooldays, schools and their 
masters with every other feeling but that of affection. 
There is practically no patriotism for the old school, 
and neither Heads nor masters keep in touch with 
their former pupils. The latter seem glad that they 
have done with it, while the former are busy in forc- 
ing other human egos into the mould approved by the 
State for making educated men. 

In all German universities there are students' clubs 
known as corps, etc. Large numbers of schoolboys 
cherish an ardent longing to become one day a mem- 
ber of such a corps. The formation of similar so- 
cieties In the schools Is very strictly forbidden. 
Masters are always on the look-out for evidence of 
their existence, which, If discovered, will certainly 
cause some expulsions. Still, these societies exist in 
every large school, and the low cunning practised In 
carrying them on is certainly an excellent training for 
the German diplomat or strategist. The members 
are schoolboys between the ages of sixteen and nine- 
teen; they meet generally In a private room at a se- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 35 

eluded inn. There they fence or imitate the much- 
envied student in beer-drinking and sometimes in 
duelling affairs. 

The vice-principal of a certain school, while com- 
plaining to the author about the absence of truthful- 
ness and the lack of frankness in German boys, spoke 
openly on the question of these secret clubs. He said 
that putting boys on their word of honour did not 
help them in their investigations for proof that such 
a club exists. The boys have countered the word- 
of-honour test in the first statute of rules ; its purport 
is as follows : " The moment in which this club is 
discovered by those in authority, the society ceases to 
exist." By this artifice a member who is questioned 
as to the club's existence can truthfully swear that it 
does not exist. In one European country, at least, 
the lesson has been well learned — ^" to be harmless 
as doves but more artful than serpents." 

Although the writer Is a sincere admirer of Ger- 
many's splendid system of schools, he deplores just as 
sincerely many of their aims, together with the tone 
which prevails in them. In lecturing to German 
teachers he has expressed his criticism in this form: 
*' You lay too much stress on the verb konnen '^ (to 
be able, to know) " and you neglect the verb sein " 
(to be, i.e.^ character). That is undoubtedly the 
root of the whole evil. 

A century ago the Germans emerged from serf- 
dom, and for that unripe human material Germany 



m THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

has built up a great system of institutions, which im- 
part knowledge, irrespective of the individual's capa- 
bility of receiving and assimilating it. It would be 
unwise to graft an Eton and Oxford education on 
every street waif or son of the fields. That is ex- 
actly what Germany for nearly a century has been do- 
ing en masse. The superstructure is too splendid 
and heavy for its foundations, with this result — 
Germans individually and collectively are suffering 
from too much knowledge without the necessary char^ 
acter to balance it, or, in everyday language, Germany" 
is suffering from " swelled-head." 

Before leaving this subject it is necessary to add 
that every young fellow who enters the civil service 
as a master in a State school must take the oath of 
allegiance to King and State, and furthermore he 
swears not to divulge the happenings of school life. 
This oath has been administered to young candidates 
in the writer's presence on several occasions. School 
happenings are termed Amtsgeheimnisse (secrets of 
office) , and the rector of a school when administering 
the oath especially enjoined upon the young men the 
wisdom of having nothing to do with the press. 
Truly the German loves secrecy as the mole under the 
earth loves darkness. 



CHAPTER III 

GERMAN UNIVERSITIES HIGH-SCHOOLS OF 

KULTUR AND BRUTALITY 

THERE IS no boast which falls more often from 
German lips than that they are the most edu- 
cated people in the world. With justice they are 
proud of their school system and like to talk about 
it, but if mention is made of their twenty-two universi- 
ties, the average German takes a deep breath before 
discussing the Hochschule^i, in order to accord such a 
sacred subject the honour which is due to it. 

The author well remembers how his Nuremberg 
friends looked upon him with a special kind of awe 
after his appointment to a German university had 
been notified in the Press of the Fatherland. They 
seemed to look upon this as an honour second only 
to one which can fall to the lot of man — the excepted 
dignity being, of course, the officer's uniform. 

Bavaria, with a population not exceeding seven 
millions, supports three universities — two with a 
Catholic and one (Erlangen) with a Protestant Fac- 
ulty of Theology. In these three there are — in 
times of peace — about ten thousand students, while 
the remaining German States support universities con- 
taining roughly fifty thousand students. 

37 



S8 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Without any fear of contradiction it may be said 
that Germany easily holds the record for turning out 
*' university men." On the whole the various States 
spare no expense ^ whatever in making these institu- 
tions the finest in the world, with the result that in 
medicine, experimental science and so on, the insti- 
tutes have become models for other countries. 

Failing the opportunity to become an officer, there 
IS perhaps no more ardent desire in the heart of 
young Germany than to go to a university. There 
are many facilities to this end, for with care the stu- 
dent — unless he is studying law or medicine — can 
manage to squeeze through on £50 to £60 a year. 
Large numbers keep themselves going by giving pri- 
vate lessons, while not a few are supported by wait- 
resses, whom they afterwards marry — or leave in 
the lurch, to marry a girl with a dowry. 

Such advertisements as the following are quite com- 
mon in the newspapers : 

Student {medical) , smart-looking and gentlemanly, seeks 
the acquaintance of a lady with means, who will enable him 
to complete his studies. A lady with a regrettable incident in 
her past not excluded. Marriage later a matter of honour. 
Apply Box QQ. 

Notwithstanding such instances as the above, large 
numbers of young fellows may be met who live hard, 

1 1 have a letter from a German professor before me, dated 
December 13th, 1914. He states that the Bavarian Government 
had just granted the funds for building a new Technological- 
Chemistry Institute in Erlangen. Thus even in war-time the Gov- 
ernment intends to see that the universities do not go short. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 39 

studious lives, whose pluck and self-denial (although 
compulsory) deserve unstinted admiration. On the 
other hand, not a few become hardened beer-drinkers, 
confirmed loafers, petty criminals, stealing books, 
platinum, etc., from the various institutes, or lose 
themselves utterly in the primrose paths of dalliance. 

Many families give their addresses to the Vice- 
Chancellor, signifying their willingness to give poor 
students free meals on one or more days of the week. 

A considerable number of bursaries are at the dis- 
position of the Senate to help poor men, so that if the 
" lame dog " fails to get over the stile it may be 
largely his own fault. Out of fourteen hundred stu- 
dents at Erlangen no fewer than thirty per cent, were 
receiving charitable assistance of one kind or another. 

The German student does not live in a palatial col- 
lege, oppressed by the financial worry of having to 
live in the same style as his comrades. He can hire 
a room where he pleases, and board himself accord- 
ing to his purse, yet there are thousands of men who 
leave the universities with their future income pledged 
for years in advance, which doubtless provides a fur- 
ther incentive in the search for a wife with means. 

The men are truly a motley crowd, containing a 
large percentage from quite poor homes, the sons of 
lower ofiicials in the post and railway services, small 
tradesmen, elementary teachers, caretakers, com- 
missionaires, etc. 

Sons of officials in the State service can always get 



40 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

the fees reduced; the sons of the clergy seldom pay 
more than a fifth, while the children of professors in 
the universities never pay any fees at all. College 
fees, too, are ridiculously small to our ideas. A man 
studying philosophy, history, languages or physical 
science pays four or five shillings per hour for the 
whole term. If he enters his name for courses of lec- 
tures totalling twenty-five hours in the week he will 
pay either £5 or £6 for the whole term's lectures. 
There are only two terms in the academic year. 

The consequence of making a university career so 
cheap has been that more men have flocked to the 
learned professions than the latter could absorb, with 
the result that they are sadly overcrowded. The 
Bavarian Government has issued repeated warnings 
in recent years to keep men from going to the uni- 
versities. 

In the case of teachers employed in State Second- 
ary Schools, the Government published a notice within 
the last twelve months announcing that there were 
enough university-trained teachers waiting for ap- 
pointments to cover the demand for at least ten 
years; i.e., a young man who completed his university 
course in 19 14 could only hope for a civil service 
post in 1924. 

The sentiment has been freely expressed in aca- 
demic circles that a war is necessary to thin matters 
out a little. Not only is Germany suffering from 
over-production of intellectual material, but she is 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 41 

suffering from what is dubbed " ein akademisches 
Proletariat." That is to say, thousands of young 
fellows who lack good breeding, who have never felt 
the best influences of a good home, crowd the uni- 
versities, where they are crammed with learning, but 
do not acquire the good tone of a gentleman. The 
university has nothing to do with such contemptible 
details as good form, tone or refinement of char- 
acter. Its high mission is purely intellectual, in spite 
of the motto over its portals, Veritate^ humanitate et 
virtiite. 

After a long and close connection with their aca- 
demic life it seems to the writer that German con- 
ceptions of these qualities are fundamentally dif- 
ferent from those accepted in England. Perhaps 
they are right and we are wrong! Who knows? 
The one and only aim seems to be — create big 
brains and fill them. 

Only a year ago a member of one of Germany's 
noblest families was heard to deplore the absence 
of refinement, distinguished manners and high ideals 
of living which characterizes the German professor's 
family life. He spoke with truth, for these things 
have become too trivial for men of learning. Often 
enough they are lighthouses of knowledge in an un- 
enlightened world, but rarely, very rarely indeed, 
men of noble character whose influence on those 
around them has the effect of that subtle, ethical force 
which we call goodness. Students take the same 



42 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

view In practice, and their admiration for a professor 
is in proportion to his intellectual achievements, not 
his moral worth. Many of these gentlemen who, in 
the author's judgment, seemed estimable" men, had 
no following, while others, whose works were talked 
of throughout the world, were heroes to the stu- 
dents, although most Englishmen would hesitate to 
invite them into their homes.^ 

These words, however, will suffice to show that 
professorial influence makes itself felt in one direc- 
tion only — towards intellectualism and materialism. 
As a body they are openly contemptuous and hostile 
both to the forms and spirit of religion; even on 
royal birthdays, when the whole staff is invited to at- 
tend divine service, not five per cent, troubles to go, 
those being mostly office-bearers. 

Professors of Divinity stand alone, intellectually 
isolated, and to a certain extent, socially. One 
ardent disciple of Treltschke told the writer that all 
" the wretched theologians ought to be cleared out 
of the universities, as Divinity is no science, but 
merely an Irish stew of superstition and Ignorance." 

2 A few years ago a distinguished professor of ancient history 
jokingly suggested that I should write a book entitled, " In a Small 
University Town," as a sort of corollary to Lieutenant Bilse's 
work, " In a Small Garrison." The latter work unfolds a lurid 
picture of life in the German Army, especially of the pettiness and 
immorality prevailing in officers' circles. If the excavator of Nu- 
mantia really meant that such material is at hand in small or 
large German university towns, I quite agree with him, but must 
decline the honour (?) obtainable by committing it to paper. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 43 

Another, a brilliant exponent of ethics as well as the 
German biographer of Carlyle, expressed the opinion 
that, if he were compelled to choose a rehgion at all, 
his choice would fall on Buddhism as the only one of 
them which was not entirely insulting to man's reason. 
Religion is something for das Folk, to quote the 
phrase which educated Germans invariably use when 
expressing their lofty contempt for the less favoured 
constituents of their nation. 

In the Times (December 22nd, 19 14) Professor 
Sayce raises the question of the world's intellectual 
debt to German professors, which he minimizes. 
The present writer is inclined to think such an as- 
sumption far too drastic to be defensible. In any 
case the issue is outside the limits of this work; here 
we have only to examine the position and influence of 
German professors within the Fatherland, and this, 
be it remembered, is a position of almost unchallenged 
authority. Their influence Is, as stated above, entirely 
intellectual and Is not restricted to academic circles, 
but is evident throughout the nation. In sentiment 
they are, as a class, bitterly Anglophobe, seemingly 
^Inspired by the false principle that you must run 
down your rival's wares in order to puff your own. 

The prevailing opinion may be expressed in the 
words of a Bavarian professor: *' I like English 
manners and modes of life, but I hate the name of 
political England. The place which destiny has al- 
lotted to you in the world prevents our just develop- 



44 THE SOUL OF GERMANY ' 

ment. Added to which your Statesmen display a 
fiendish ingenuity in thwarting our peaceful ( ?)] 
progress." 

Their activities are by no means confined to uni- 
versity lecture-halls, for nearly every university has 
one or more representatives either in the Reichstag 
or the State Diet. Professor Geiger, of Erlangen, 
was for many years leader of the South German 
Liberal Party. The author has heard this gentleman 
say on more than one occasion, that the German 
fleet was a menace to England, and that he compre- 
hended perfectly England's alarm at its development. 

Not only in Parliament but on the public plat- 
form the university professors have done their utmost 
to cultivate patriotism (which is only their common 
right and duty) . But it must not be forgotten that 
the German academic world is saturated with the 
teachings of Treitschke. Nearly every professor of 
history is a disciple of his ; many of them can tell of 
the days when they had to go at least an hour before 
time in order to get a seat in Treitschke's Berlin lec- 
ture hall. Their hearers are largely men who are 
appointed later to teach history in the State Secon- 
dary Schools; there they pass on to younger pupils 
what they have imbibed in the university concerning 
the national idea and future. This enables us to see 
at a glance how the poison disseminated by Heinrich 
von Treitschke forty years ago has percolated 
through to nearly every educated man In the country. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 45 

Furthermore, German university professors have 
resorted — for the most part anonymously — to the 
press in order to spread their national dreams among 
the great body of the people. The literature which 
the German Navy League has spread broadcast 
throughout the length and breadth of the land has 
been provided to a very considerable extent by pro- 
fessorial pens, but this was not within the knowledge 
of the general public. Neither did the readers of 
pan-German organs Imagine that many of the articles 
on Weltpolitik came from the same source; but in 
order to clinch this matter one definite instance may 
be cited. 

During the excitement in Europe occasioned by the 
Agadir crisis there was especial glee among Erlangen 
professors. An article written by one of them was 
being discussed throughout the country and beyond. 
Its title was " EndHch ein Schlag " ("A blow at 
last "), and it appeared In Krupp's organ, Rheinisch 
fVestfdlische Zeitung. Needless to add, its tenor 
was warlike and inflammatory to a degree, in short 
not at all what *' the man In the street " would ex- 
pect from the pen of Dr. Schulten, Professor of An- 
cient History, the holder of several decorations, 
Prussian and foreign. 

German professors are generally supposed to en- 
joy absolute freedom In their scientific investigation 
and teaching. They are expected to seek truth and 
proclaim It. In some respects this is true to an ex- 



46 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

tent diliiciilt to find elsewhere. The theologian may 
announce to the v/orld that the Bible is a collection 
of fables, Jesus Christ a mere man, and so dilute the 
teachings of Christianity that they sink to the level 
of iEsop's Fables. A philosopher like Nietzsche 
taught the morality of the farmyard and the divine 
right of brute force from the dignified position of a 
professor's chair. Nevertheless there are limita- 
tions to this seeming liberty, but the restrictions are 
so vital as to make it valueless In the domain where 
it is most needed. 

The universities are State institutions and every 
man engaged in them a civil servant. Immediately 
a man enters upon his duties he receives an invitation 
from the Academic Registrar to appear at his office 
and take the oath. In the presence of the Vice- 
Chancellor and a witness the Registrar reads the 
oath, which the new-comer then signs. Its terms for- 
bid him to do, write, or say anything subversive to 
the interests of King and State. Thus his political 
activities and influence can only be exercised in one 
direction. Should he cherish opinions antagonistic 
to existing conditions he is very effectively gagged 
from criticizing the great Moloch — the State. If 
he had the temerity to break this oath he would brand 
himself with dishonour, and without doubt court in- 
stant dismissal, after which no other State in the Em- 
pire would need his services. Even the great lights 
such as Harnack, Haeckel, Eucken and Brentano have 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 47 

all signed their names on such " scraps of paper." 

In the light of these facts their activity (?) before 
the war — in omitting to denounce the glaring in- 
justices which stalk in broad daylight in Germany, 
and their activity after the war began — in apprais- 
ing German Kultur and denouncing England's per- 
fidious barbarism, shows them to be what they really 
are — paid, obedient servants of the State. 

Another lesson has to be drawn, viz., the pro- 
fessors of history may only present German history 
and aims in a favourable light; they are reduced to 
the role of propagandists or on occasion ruthless per- 
verters of English history and ideals. 

Two years ago the playwright, Gerhart Haupt- 
mann, wrote a historical play whose scene was laid 
in the year 1813. The piece, which was to be an at- 
traction in the Breslau 19 13 Centenary Exhibition, 
presented the Kaiser's ancestor Frederick as a mere 
puppet in the hands of Napoleon, and Germany's 
real deliverers to be Stein, Bliicher, Gneisenau, etc. 
This is historically true, but the present Emperor re- 
fused to open the exhibition unless the play was 
abandoned. It was abandoned, with a loss of thou- 
sands of pounds to the city, a part of which the 
Kaiser paid out of his own privy purse. 

If a comparatively free agent, like the dramatist 
Hauptmann, may not write historical truth, how 
much more does that apply to a professor who re- 
ceives his daily bread from State sources! How, 



4.8 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

too, can the professors of law — every university 
has a Faculty of Law — under whom all the lawyers 
In the realm must have studied,, how can these explore 
the domains of abstract justice, when the results of 
their Investigations may condemn the existing laws 
upon which the German State Is based ? Three years 
ago Dr. Julius Binder, then Vice-Chancellor of 
Erlangen University, declaimed in full congregation, 
that the State Is perfectly free to ride over any and 
every right in asserting its will. No ! these gentle- 
men do not enjoy freedom of thought or speech; 
their main office Is to bolster up the existing condi- 
tions from which they themselves live. 

Along with the intellectual glamour surrounding 
the ancient universities of Germany, there is another 
aspect which has often been described but, perhaps, 
never critically estimated in Its far-reaching influence. 
At each of these seats of learning the students form 
themselves into societies or corporations. Such men 
are styled " Inkorporierten," while all outsiders are 
dubbed " Obscuranten.'' These corporations play 
a most influential part not only In the life of the uni- 
versity but also In the wider sphere of national life. 
They may be roughly divided Into duelling and anti- 
duelling (or Christian) societies. The influence 
of the former may be described as entirely baneful. 

Several types of these clubs are extant; all those 
of the same type are affiliated, with central com- 
mittees possessing certain powers of organization, In- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 49 

eluding the right to exclude any single member or 
club which has offended against the regulations. 

First among these corporations are the " Corps." 
They are wealthy as well as socially au fait and gen- 
erally possess splendid club-houses. Next in power 
come the " Burschenschaften " (Fellowships), which 
are, furthermore, political factors. Their members 
are sworn to chastity during the two years' active 
membership, which is certainly one ray of light amid 
the dark, egoistic paganism of German university life. 

Lastly, and least important of the three, there 
are the *' Landsmannschaften," the members of 
which are pledged to give or demand '' Satisfaction " 
In defence of their honour. It is the two former to 
which most of the following considerations are de- 
voted. 

While still at school the elder scholars begin to 
take sides on the duelling question; before proceed- 
ing to the university they have generally decided 
whether they will enter a corporation at all, and 
which type attracts them. 

Between all kinds of corporations there Is more or 
less active hatred and opposition. A corps student 
will generally decline an Invitation If he knows that 
members of other Incorporated students will be in 
the company. 

Some years ago the students gave a humorous 
evening for some charitable purpose In Erlangen. 
After the usual performance there followed a few 



50 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

hours' dancing, and some young ladies whom we 
had Introduced for that event, danced several times 
with some " Fellowship " men. They had good 
friends among the corps students, who, however, Ig- 
nored their presence ! 

Young ladles in the district who accept invita- 
tions to dances or such-like diversions given by non- 
corps students may never hope to be Invited to any 
function held in a corps-house. Such are samples of 
the ridiculous caste spirit which they successfully Im- 
pose upon modern Germany. Their contempt for 
members of other clubs Is supreme. If a beer-house 
brawl occurs (which is frequently the case), they will 
give satisfaction to their opponents with the sword, 
but do not wear the corps colours during the fray. 

At Erlangen there are four Corps (Including the 
oldest in Germany) and four Burschenschaften. 
Their total active membership is about three hun- 
dred, yet their power is enormously out of proportion 
to their numerical strength. Even a member of the 
Senate — or even the Senate itself — would think 
twice before getting into an open conflict with cer- 
tain of them. In fact far too much Is done to con- 
ciliate the corps when grievances arise. 

During his two years of active membership the 
student Is subject to the rules of his corporation. 
These include: — unquestioning obedience to Its offi- 
cials; secrecy — so beloved of Germans; eight hours' 
attendance in the fencing school weekly; he must 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 51 

fight duels {Mensur)^ when called upon; he must 
attend a certain number of beer-drinkings (Kneipe) 
weekly; he must parade the chief streets between 
5 and 6 p.m., Sunday mornings ii a.m till i p.m. 
and wear the club colours. In short a great many 
" musts " are brought to bear upon him, all of which 
combined go to make a good man into a swaggering 
bully, without proper respect for the rights of others. 
The author Is in the unfortunate position of flatly 
contradicting Kaiser Wllhelm IL, who was a member 
of the "Bonner Borussen " (The Prussians); His 
Majesty occasionally visits this corps — notorious 
for Its exploits against the Inoffensive citizens of 
Bonn. On one such occasion, May 7th, 1891, the 
Kaiser, In addressing his '* brothers," said: "It 
is my firm conviction that every young man who joins 
a corps Imbibes the spirit which prevails In it, and that 
spirit inspires the motives which direct his whole life. 
It is the best education which a young man can have 
for his later life. The men who make German corps 
a butt for their scorn do not know their real tend- 
encies." The Emperor had, no doubt, an appreci- 
ative audience, for the Bonner Borussen are all sons 
of the nobility — Prussian Junkerdom. The mem- 
bers of this corps are certain of a favourable recep- 
tion at Court, and equally certain to obtain the best 
appointments In the German State and Army. It Is 
openly stated in the Fatherland that the present 
Chancellor — Bethmann-Hollweg — has obtained 



5a THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

his office, not by merit, but through the accident that 
he and the Kaiser are *' corps-brothers," which means 
that both studied brutal self-assertion in the same 
school. 

The beer carousals are one of the lesser evils, 
though on special occasions they often degenerate 
into such disgusting orgies that a neighbouring room 
has to be used as a Totenkammer (chamber for the 
dead). Into which the " blind, speechless paralytics " 
are dragged to sleep off the effects of the libations to 
Gambrinus. 

During his first three years at a German university 
the writer smothered his disgust to attend the func- 
tions of these corporations, and has a thorough 
knowledge of them. He remembers many decent 
young fellows whose progress in the school of bru- 
tality he was able to observe, till they became vulgar 
bullies. 

All the members of a corporation are on terms of 
brotherhood and address each other with the famil- 
iar du (thou). At the end of their first term the 
young members go through the ordeal known as 
*' burning the foxes." On such occasions ladies may 
be admitted to the galleries. (In academic life, if 
women are permitted to take part at all, they are gen- 
erally relegated to the gallery.) Towards the close 
of an evening occupied with beer-drinking, toasts, 
and other formalities, the " foxes " withdraw to the 
next room and the whole company lines up, leaving a 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 5a 

passage for the foxes to pass through. Everybody 
is provided with a torch, and at a given signal the 
first fox comes careering, astride a chair, down be- 
tween the two lines. During his gallop of some 
thirty yards he is belaboured on his head and shoul- 
ders with the torches. His mad charge comes to an 
end in the arms of a couple of waiters, who quickly 
envelop him in wet towels. Sometimes torches are 
replaced by canes, but the result is the same — the 
fox is transformed into a Bruder or a Bursche. 

Mention has already been made of the duels com- 
monly called " Bestimmungsmensur," and as these 
are the fundamental process in brutalizing the men 
they deserve a more detailed account. They continue 
throughout term-time on Wednesdays and Saturdays 
and are held In country inns or town beer houses, or 
even in forest glades. No burning wrong or biting 
insult is necessary to set their machinery in motion. 

One corporation calmly Invites another — though 
always of the same type — to put up ten men or 
more on a stated day. The invitation is promptly 
accepted and a rendezvous chosen. On such days 
one may see brakes full of students leisurely leaving 
the town. The police see them — the man in the 
street too — but although the whole procedure Is an 
open contravention of the country's laws, nobody 
dreams of Interfering. In fact people often follow 
to look on at the " sport." Next day or even on the 
same evening you may see the heroes parading the 



54* THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

street in black skull-caps and ostentatious bandages 
round cheek and head; that first parade is one of the 
proudest, happiest moments in the life of a corps- 
student ! 

Let us look for a moment at the Mensur. It is a 
small hall with a confined space in the centre. 
Walls, ceiling and floor are stained with the evi- 
dences of past encounters. Two wooden figures^ 
standing in a preposterous attitude, face each other 
with long swords raised above their heads, which 
clash at the command *' Los ! " Every head in the 
crowded, smoky, beery atmosphere is turned to- 
wards the opponents, who proceed to hack each 
other's heads and faces according to the regulations. 

There is no excitement, only callous blood-lust dis- 
played; after each round the weapons are disinfected, 
and when one man has lost enough blood or is so in- 
jured that his skill deteriorates, his friends withdraw 
him. Two other combatants begin anew and after 
them still more from early morning till evening. 
Opponents are often personal friends, but that makes 
no difference to the etiquette — which demands abso- 
lute politeness to each other. Feelings may not enter 
into the affair — the ideal duellist, under these con- 
ditions, is an animated block of wood. 

During his two years' active service every member 
must attend on such occasions whether he Is fighting 
or not. There is no romance, no animosity on either 
side; it is simply a blood orgy, with little danger 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 65 

to the participants — but numerous later benefits! 

Casualties are rare, and when a death ensues it Is 
generally caused by something as prosaic as blood- 
poisoning. Yet these are among the most cherished 
and revered customs in Germany. The young man 
who has obtained his blood-degree is society's dar- 
ling. Even if his academic degree be a third class 
and his general ability below mediocre, still his corps- 
brothers in high places will look after him. 

We must not forget that the graduates in the 
school of blood do occupy high places in diplomacy, 
in the army and navy, in short, in every branch of 
public life. It is, in fact, men from the schools of 
brutality who have ruled Germany's destinies for 
over half a century. Their code of honour is to 
smile and bow while engaged in hacking a friend to 
pieces : it is the non phis ultra of playing the game on 
Teutonic lines. 

Every year each corporation publishes a report of 
Its proceedings; these publications are strictly secret, 
being only issued to active and past members. The 
author had the good fortune to read some published 
by the most famous Biirschenschaft in the Father- 
land, viz., *' die Germania," Erlangen. Besides re- 
ports of the various festivities, they contained ac- 
counts of the Mensur fought during the year. 

In addition to these formal affairs, the duels 
fought in defence of " honour " were tabulated, to- 
gether with the quarrels which gave rise to them. 



56 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

There were formal descriptions of how Herr X. Y. 
felt himself aggrieved by Herr A. B. on the occasion 
of some village fair or other. On receiving no satis- 
factory explanation of A. B.'s behaviour (staring or 
some other ridiculous pretext), X. Y. boxed the other 
man's ears, exchanged cards, referred the affair to a 
court of honour, and received satisfaction. (We 
will hope that X. Y. was really satisfied!) Several 
pages of printed matter were necessary to recount 
the Germania's heroic deeds performed in one year; 
these deeds included such exploits as spitting or being 
spat upon, boxing somebody's ears, or having one's 
face smacked — Teutonic amenities among German 
gentlemen ! 

German ladies literally scramble in their en- 
deavours to get their daughters' names on the invi- 
tation lists of these corporations, which exercise a 
petty social tyranny. (Germans from the top to the 
bottom of the social ladder submit all their lives to 
more or less tyranny, sustaining themselves with the 
hope of becoming tyrants too.) 

An amazing side of the social functions given by 
the students' corporations, and which Germans con- 
sider it such an honour to attend, is that the guests 
must pay for all the refreshments they consume, 
which means that the hosts derive considerable profit 
from their guests' corporeal appetites. 

It is evident that if the fair sex display such eager- 
ness to share the company of these " supermen " 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 57 

they cannot expect that chivalrous respect which 
womanhood should inspire. The writer could re- 
count endless episodes to illustrate the odious bad 
manners which prevail among incorporated students; 
but let one instance suffice. 

On the day after the " foxes " have been burned, 
all the members of the club march through the town 
to visit any old members (Philister) who may reside 
in it. Lavish hospitality is provided for them, and 
at the close of the day few of them are free from the 
influence of alcohol. On these occasions there is 
the usual horseplay which young fellows out for a 
spree are permitted to indulge in; it is sometimes 
funny, sometimes exceedingly coarse. 

The round includes a visit to the State Secondary 
Schooly where sundry windows are smashed with 
such harmless missiles as oranges. 

A few years ago, while the staff of the Erlangen 
Gymnasium was sitting in solemn conclave, an orange, 
thrown by a member of Germany's oldest corps 
(Onoldia), smashed the spectacles of one of the 
masters. The Vice-Principal of the school took it 
upon himself to protest in terms fitting the occasion. 
The corps was highly indignant that a Vice-Principal, 
above all a Roman CathoHc, should dare to scold 
them for their ill-behaviour, and threatened dire re- 
venge. Luckily Dr. W. received a friendly hint that 
members of the Onoldia intended to waylay him one 
dark night in order to wipe out the insult by adminis- 



58 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

tering a thrashing. This heroic deed was fortu- 
nately frustrated by the gentleman in question taking 
the necessary precautions. 

Failing to execute their revenge upon a man, the 
corporation proceeded in true German fashion to 
vent their spleen upon a woman. Dr. W.'s daugh- 
ter, a girl of seventeen, had to pass the Onoldia corps- 
house on her shopping expeditions. These oppor- 
tunities the *' corps-brothers " used to wound her re- 
ligious susceptibilities; as the young lady passed the 
heroes lined up to chant the Ave Maria, Her father 
told the author that he did not complain to the 
Senate, because he knew where the sympathies of 
those in power lay, for many of the professors had 
been corps-students themselves. He treated such be- 
haviour with the contempt which it deserved. Un- 
fortunately conduct of this kind, and the petty, spite- 
ful spirit which feels no dishonour in molesting a 
woman, is only too common among the under-gradu- 
ates in the school for bullies. 

In summoning up this most important side of Ger- 
man life, it is only fair to state that German ideals 
are different to those pursued in British universities. 
Freed from the iron discipline of the school, the 
young German plunges into die akademische Freiheit 
(academic liberty), which permits him to do as he 
likes, assuming that he does not break the eleventh 
commandment.^ Removed from the restraint of 

^ Lass dich nicht ernmschen! (Do not get caught!) 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 59 

home and Its influences — and good home influences 
are rare in modern Germany — the student finds him- 
self in an atmosphere of intellectual materialism 
from which religious and moral forces have been 
banished. In this world he soon discovers that to 
be a hero he must belong to the fighting, swaggering, 
drinking, Don Juan class. He brings no sporting in- 
stincts from the school and acquires none at the uni- 
versity.^ 

The man Is thrown entirely upon himself; not 
even his social Instincts are catered for except in the 
corporations and by public houses and beer-gardens. 
Professors seldom invite the students to their homes, 
but even then the intercourse lacks all bonds of hu- 
man sympathy. It would seem that the chief aim of 
German professors Is to get large numbers of stu- 
dents, so that their college fees are Increased In pro- 
portion; but the moral, spiritual or social welfare of 
their pupils are matters entirely beneath their dig- 
nity. 

It has already been pointed out that German pro- 
fessors are dependent upon the State as it exists to- 
day, and It would be invidious to hope that they 
will emulate Samson In pulling down the pillars of 
the edifice. 

4 Last July (1914) about twenty students took part in the aca- 
demic sports held in Erlangen. There were nearly one thousand 
four hundred students enrolled during that term, and these num- 
bers give a very correct idea of the popularity of open-air sports 
among German students. 



CHAPTER IV 

RELIGION IN THE FATHERLAND 

IN a nation, as in the Individual, there are forces 
for good and evil; unless the former predomi- 
nate, or are at least sufficiently powerful to neutralize 
the tendency to evil-doing, we may expect a criminal 
outbreak. Before a man sinks to the level known 
as criminal, a psychological change goes on in him 
before he reaches the " frame of mind " which 
prompts him to become either a burglar or mur- 
derer : that is to say — supposing, of course, that the 
higher instincts have existed in him — that the bal- 
ance of those forces which tell for good and evil has 
been disturbed. In the same way the ballast of 
good in a nation may be displaced or even thrown 
overboard. Just as the individual may lose the 
power of distinguishing between right and wrong, 
or his mental state may become such, that he prefers 
the wrong, so it is too in the case of nations. Na- 
tional conscience may contract the same diseases as 
that of an Individual. In order to explain Ger- 
many's national crime in precipitating the present 
world war, it is necessary to suppose that the forces 
for good in the nation had succumbed to those which 

60 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 61 

lead to evil; in some manner, more or less easy to 
trace, the national conscience had been perverted; 
the predisposition to criminality must have been 
present, or, in other words, Germany had arrived at 
a state of mind similar to that found in a criminal, 
who commits burglary with violence. 

Of all the forces which tend to increase the 
amount of positive good in a nation and to combat 
inclinations to evil, religion undoubtedly stands pre- 
eminent. It Is the author's endeavour in the pres- 
ent chapter to show that this factor for good has 
become non-effective in the national life of Germany, 
that this divine influence has been — to use a Ger- 
man idiom taken from the electrical world — 
" switched off." 

In his essay on Martin Luther (''Heroes and 
Hero-Worship ") Thomas Carlyle maintains that 
" a man's religion is the most important thing about 
him "; who would dispute that this dictum does not 
apply with equal truth to a community of men? 
The term religion must, however, be interpreted in 
a much wider sense than a mere creed, rather as the 
power to distinguish between right and wrong and 
the will to do right. A nation's religion should in- 
clude Its Ideals of action and being, together with 
the " national conscience," which, after all. Is the 
sum total of myriads of Individual consciences. An 
average of all the good and evil In all the units mak- 
ing up the nation would exactly give the national 



62 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

conscience, and this should be '' the gleam " which 
acts as a guiding light to national doings. 

Since St. Boniface introduced Christianity into 
Germany its doctrines have had a remarkable his- 
tory. But to anyone who has observed the religious 
life of modern Germany it would seem that the 
passing centuries have only served to extract the 
spirit of Christ from his teachings, leaving only the 
outer husk — the dry bones of dogma and formality. 
Bones which still excite never-ending strife and con- 
tention, although every vestige of the meat of grace 
has long since disappeared. 

German genius is the genius of order and organ- 
ization. Every department in the great national 
bee-hive Is organized — - including the one for reli- 
gion — and here the organization genius has run 
amuck! The essential part, the spiritual, ethical or 
divine element, is an intangible something which 
defies human organization. 

Germany has not succeeded in taming and organ- 
izing " the wind which bloweth where it listeth, and 
no man knows whence it cometh or whither It goeth." 
She has, however, succeeded in building up a wonder- 
fully well-ordered State Church. Each separate 
German State manages Its own internal affairs: 
therefore In each capital — Berlin, Munich, Dres- 
den, etc. — there is a government office which ar- 
ranges the church and school affairs of the State in 
question. Its official title is das Ministerium filr 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 63 

Kirchen- und Schulangelegenheiten^ or it is often 
styled das Kultusministerium. The chief of this 
office is in most cases a lawyer and a member of the 
cabinet. The Minister for Culture represents the 
Church or rather Churches — because both the Prot- 
estant and Catholic confessions are under his paternal 
care — in parliament. 

The Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Anglican 
forms of faith are permitted all over Germany, 
while the two first are estabhshed and supported out 
of the pubHc funds. If any part of the public de- 
sires to enter heaven by any other than by the 
Lutheran or Roman Catholic paths, they must ob- 
tain permission from the Minister for Church and 
School affairs. That gentleman has the power to 
admit or exclude any new faith from his domains. 
In Prussia various sects have already established 
themselves, but in Bavaria only Methodism has so 
far succeeded in getting a foothold. 

Some years ago the Salvation Army petitioned for 
the right to hold services in Bavaria. There was 
consternation in the divinity dovecots at the univer- 
' sities, and Professor Dr. Theodor von Kolde,^ a 
leading light of the Lutheran Church, professor of 
historical religion at Erlangen University, a pon- 
derous divine without either wit, humour or piety, 

1 The writer was for seven years personally acquainted with this 
gentleman, and could conscientiously give him a first-class certifi- 
cate for fanatical bigotry, notwithstanding his boasted friendship 
with Bishop Creighton. 



64* THE SOUL OF GEKMANY 

wrote a stodgy work on the Salvation Army, with 
the result that the Minister for Culture at Munich 
refused to let loose such a dangerous heretical army 
upon the Bavarian faithful. Without exaggeration 
this serves as a typical example of the manner in 
which the Cabinet Minister combines with his serv- 
ants, the Professors of Theology, to prevent wolves 
from entering the Lutheran or Roman Catholic 
sheep-fold; further it defines very exactly the mean- 
ing of " liberty of conscience " as understood among 
Germans. 

Within the pale of the Churches this Minister's 
authority is practically unlimited; the same is true 
of the State Universities and Secondary Schools. 
He controls the purse-strings and no appointment is 
valid without his consent; Indeed most livings are in 
his gift. Next to him in power and Influence are the 
Professors of Divinity and the Consistorium, or 
Church Council. 

Members of this Council receive much higher 
salaries than pastors and a great part of their time 
is devoted to organization; these are the highest po- 
sitions in the Lutheran Church and to a certain 
extent correspond to the bishoprics In the Roman 
Church. But all of these down to the humblest 
curate receive their appointments, livings, etc., from 
the Kultusminister^ whose disciplinary powers are 
just as far-reaching in his domain as the Minister 
for War's in the German army. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 65 

Thus the German Church is guided by a sort of 
trinity: God, who is the virtual head, the Kaiser, its 
nominal chief, aided by the Minister for Worship 
and Education, who in reality Is its supreme head. 

The rank and file of the ministry are gentlemen 
who certainly command personal respect. A Ger- 
man Pfarrer is a good family man, a good com- 
panion In the Biergarten, learned in his particular 
branch of knowledge, mildly interested in social, po- 
litical and scientific problems, exceedingly discreet in 
his utterances, profoundly respectful to the powers- 
that-be, with a leaning to reverence for the State — 
especially that part of it known as the Offizierskorps. 
In short he Is a quiet, orderly member of society, 
neither harmful nor a great power for good, a col- 
ourless neutral, but above all, a well-disciplined 
German civil servant. He was not cast In the 
mould which produces leaders of thought or action 
— the mantle of Martin Luther has not fallen on 
him. It would be unjust to question his goodness, 
but It Is of the mild, obedient kind tolerated by the 
German State. With regard to the rights and lib- 
erties of German clergy, we can hear no higher 
authority than the Kaiser, who is the head of the 
Lutheran Church. On February 28th, 1896, Wil- 
helm II. telegraphed to Herr Hintzpeter concerning 
.the downfall of Pfarrer Stocker in the following 
terms : " Stocker is finished, as I prophesied years 
ago. Political parsons are an absurdity. The man 



66 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

who is a Christian is also a Socialist. Christian 
Socialism is nonsense which leads to intolerance and 
presumption, both of which are diametrically op- 
posed to Christianity. The parsons must look after 
the souls of their flocks, cultivate neighbourly love. 
But they must leave politics alone, for it does not 
concern them in the least." 

It is to be regretted that the deputations of Ger- 
man clergy who visited this country in the interests 
of peace did not proclaim their master's opinion on 
their political activities, and it is still more regret- 
table that English people attached any importance 
to these gentlemen. They were not empowered to 
make peace with England; they had no influence 
whatever on the course of events in Germany, and 
the only mission which they could perform was to 
strew dust in English eyes. Since the war com- 
menced they have again mingled in politics by strew- 
ing the " dust of manifestoes," doubtless in the hope 
that both England and America still contain credu- 
lous dupes. It is to be hoped that their former 
dupes have learned the lesson that the Kaiser does 
not permit them to denounce any of the thousand 
evils which adorned Germany in peace nor the 
atrocities which have disgraced her in war. 

When the pastor enters the Church his first duty 

— from which all succeeding duties as pastor or 

citizen depend — is to take the oath of allegiance 

(including obedience) to his King and the State. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 67 

This oath if observed, and It must be observed, Is 
an effectual fetter on any latent reform or revolu- 
tionary tendencies. Hence he Is seldom a " voice 
crying In the wilderness," and still more rarely Is he 
anything but what his masters expect him to be — 
an obedient member of the great system, a minion 
of the German State. From the State he receives 
his dally bread as well as his *' call " to heavenly 
ministrations. The State can cut off the former and 
prevent his continuing the latter, and the State knows 
that with very few exceptions the Pfarrer cannot af- 
ford to forgo the bread which It doles out to him. 

A large proportion of the divinity students In 
German Universities are already under considerable 
obligations to the State; many have received as- 
sistance during the nine years spent In the secondary 
school, and many receive financial help from the au- 
thorities during the university period. Unfortu- 
nately these men do not obtain the respect from their 
fellow students which they deserve, while divinity as 
a branch of knowledge ^ Inspires still less esteem. 

The great majority of divinity students come from 
humble families. Divinity Is looked upon as a 
Brodstudium (bread-study), and Its disciples com- 
mand the minimum of respect In the social scale. 

2 Seventy years ago Strauss declared Theology to be a production 
of the imagination and not a science or branch of human knowl- 
edge. Many German professors would gladly see the " Faculties 
of Theology" swept from their universities. Not a few of the 
people hold similar opinions. 



68 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Most of them drink the prescribed quantities of 
beer, some fight duels, while all are compelled by 
circumstances as well as previous training to work 
hard. They have their societies {Verhindungen)^ 
give dances and other social amusements, but young 
ladies who consider themselves somewhat superior 
do not accept invitations to these affairs, for in that 
case their names would be struck off the invitation 
lists of the elite circles in academic life — the duel- 
ling corps. Altogether the divinity student's posi- 
tion inclines him to the humbleness of Uriah Heep, 
and although he seems happy enough — he is young 
— his lot is not quite an enviable one — cramped in 
his means of sustenance, diligently engaged in the 
pursuit of learning, tolerated in hesseren Kreisen, 
servile to the powers-that-be, and not infrequently a 
victim to one of the supreme passions of German 
character, viz., the love of humiliating one's fellow 
men. Germans are invertebrates in the presence of 
superiors, but all alike possess the lust of bullying — 
die Freude jemand zu erniedrigen. It is well known 
that members of the duelhng corps plan excursions 
into the haunts of this more peaceably inclined sec- 
tion of the academic community, in order to affront 
them with insults or even blows. This sport is tol- 
erably cheap and safe, for most divinity students are 
anti-duellists. If the archives of the *' Committees 
for Discipline " in German universities were made 
public they would prove that hundreds of cases of 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 69 

bullying occur annually. The incorporated students, 
adherents of the duelling cult, cherish a supreme con- 
tempt for their poorer — hence weaker — comrades. 

One case will suffice to show how the authorities 
themselves bow down before these supermen. For- 
merly academic festivities were celebrated in a 
common assembly to which all professors and stu- 
dents were invited, e.g., the Kaiser's birthday. But 
now the fighting corps refuse to appear officially 
when the Christian societies are present. In former 
years an annual akademicshe Kneipe (academic beer 
festival) was held in Erlangen market-place, but it 
had to be dropped on account of these very feuds. 
On festive occasions the Senate is compelled to exer- 
cise all its diplomacy in placating the corps and 
smoothing out the differences which separate the two 
camps. 

After some five or six years the future pastor 
passes his examination and leaves the university to 
enter the Church. Needless to say, he is out of 
touch with humanity and understandeth not the prob- 
lems and burning questions which go to make — 
life ! In the first place he serves the State and sec- 
ondly his God.^ The result is obvious — Germany 
is full of empty churches; the people may, or may 
not, call for bread, but it is certain they get only a 
spiritual stone. Tolerated at the university, he is 

3 The missionary who tried to blow up a British ship on the 
West Coast of Africa said: "First I am a German, then a 
Christian." 



70 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

seldom more than tolerated in after life, and in the 
" thoughts that move mankind " as well as in the 
forming of public opinion, for all practical purposes 
he is a negligible quantity — he is a civil servant. 

When the Kultus minister pulls the strings the 
figures move and write manifestoes against Eng- 
land's barbarism ! But the author has never heard 
of the German pulpit being employed in denuncia- 
tion of the crying injustice caused in the Fatherland 
by militarism, to mention only one of many evils 
which might well serve as themes for ecclesiastical 
eloquence. 

The present writer cannot vouch for its truth, but 
he has often heard it quoted as one of Bismarck's 
sayings: " Religion is only meant for women and 
children." In any case it very aptly describes Ger- 
many's conception of religion when put into practice, 
and the composition of congregations — except in 
Catholic districts — confirms this opinion. 

Piety is a feeling too low for the German intel- 
lect; it is a mental condition which arouses pity or 
contempt in him; the Englishman going to church 
with his Bible or prayer-book is known to millions 
of Teutons as the limit in either stupidity or hy- 
pocrisy. Still, if you ask a German what his religion 
is, he will in most cases answer either Evangelisch 
or Catholisch. Indeed, all Germans, young and old, 
have a religion, that is to say they are registered at 
the Town Hall as being Protestant, Catholic or Jew, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 71 

and pay a yearly tax to one of these confessions. In 
return the State looks after their religion in this life 
and presumably in that which is to come. Further- 
more, nobody under the age of twenty-one is capable 
of judging for himself; whatever his parents were 
registered as — that he must remain till he Is of age. 
Should an adult become a convert of another Church, 
e.g., a Protestant wish to enter the Roman Catholic 
Church, then a written permit must be obtained from 
his previous pastor, without which the other Church 
may not receive him. The change is duly notified at 
the Town Hall. 

After the Reformation, Protestants and Catholics 
In Germany amused themselves for a century in 
virulent abuse and recrimination, which from 1618 
till 1648 developed Into a bloodthirsty war. The 
bitter antagonism of the Thirty Years' War has 
never been extinguished; even to-day the work of 
Christ's Church Is effectually paralysed there by 
strife — both theological and political. Employers 
advertise In all cases for employees of their own 
faith; the purchasing public will not buy at this or 
that shop because the proprietor is a Jew or Catholic, 
and so on ad nauseam. 

But perhaps the most forcible indictment of Ger- 
many's national religion Is the fact that her ancient 
churches and cathedrals are renovated, and her new 
ones built, with money gained by State lotteries. 
The windows of officially recognized '* Lottery 



7a THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Shops " always contain tickets for the building or 
renovating of churches. The method is briefly this. 
Should a new district require a church, the local 
Church Council applies to the Kultus minister for 
permission to hold a lottery. If there are not too 
many lotteries running, permission is granted, or it 
may be deferred for a time till the competition be- 
tween the various charities is favourable to a new 
venture. Then about two hundred thousand tick- 
ets are printed, stating the object in view and mostly 
giving a view of the church to be benefited. The 
tickets are next circulated among lottery dealers, who 
retail them to the public at the price printed on the 
front — generally three shillings and threepence. 
The odd threepence is a tax for the benefit of the 
State. 

About one ticket in twenty-five can win a prize. 
Prizes in cash vary from £3,500 down to a crown, 
but in most lotteries there are only about ten prizes 
of a higher value than £50. On an average only 
4 per cent, of the tickets win prizes at all ; the great 
majority of these have only a value of 5s. and los., 
hence the big prize is the decoy bird. Lotteries are 
organized betting; the chances are roughly 100 to 
4 that a bet of 3s. 3d. may win a 5s. or los. prize, 
representing a net gain of roughly 2s. or 7s., while 
the odds are 200,000 to i against the gambler gain- 
ing the £3,500 prize. To Englishmen it would thus 
seem that German churches have become bookmak- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 73 

ers on a large scale. The ethics of such a system 
may be left to the personal opinion of individual 
readers; the author only desires to state that this 
appeal to the lowest human instinct has not secured 
the Church in the hearts or imaginations of the Ger- 
man people. Among the poor, gambling in lottery 
tickets has become universal, although there are in 
all probabiHty no great social evils resulting from it. 
The point to be emphasized here, however, is that 
German churches are built and renovated by whole- 
sale gambling with " the man in the street," and this 
is valuable evidence of the extent to which material- 
ism has blunted the national idealism, when religion, 
whose greatest good has ever been achieved by arous- 
ing the imagination, struts In the loud check-suit of 
the bookmaker. It is further of interest to note that 
" the man in the street " rarely troubles himself to 
inspect the ^' House of God " which his little bet has 
helped to build. 

Religion occupies no unimportant place in German 
school life. There are clergymen attached to every 
inspecting authority for elementary schools, a state 
of things generally condemned by the teachers. In 
all higher schools religious knowledge Is Imparted 
by clergymen {Pfarrer) specially appointed for this 
duty. A certain amount of latitude has been per- 
mitted to parents In deciding whether their children 
should receive religious Instruction or not. This 
freedom Is very essentially curtailed, however, by 



74 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

other existing conditions. In the final examination 
which admits a youth to the university, divinity is a 
compulsory subject; no candidate for any branch of 
the civil service could hope for admission if he were 
not a member of some recognized Church — the 
Jewish faith being the least welcome. Last year the 
Bavarian Government went a step further in declar- 
ing that no boy or girl could be admitted to a State 
school without participating In some form of reli- 
gious Instruction recognized by the Board for 
Church and School Affairs. 

There Is Indeed no lack of evidence to show that 
the ecclesiastical authorities recognize that the 
Church has lost its hold upon the nation in general, 
and are redoubling their efforts to Influence the 
young during their school days.^ But It may be 
doubted whether these bureaucratic endeavours will 
succeed in winning the nation back to its allegiance 
to God. The two religious camps — Roman Cath- 
olic and Lutheran — are still engaged in bitter hos- 
tilities against each other, and in mutual aggression 
against other faiths — the school is only one more 
battlefield for them.^ 

Another national force has to be reckoned with 

•* Fritz Berolzheimer writes in his "Moral und Gesellschaft ": 
"In all classes the adult population is quite indifferent to religion." 

^ At the commencement of the school-year the educational au- 
thorities publish statistics in every district regarding the religion 
of all children who have just entered the schools. There is con- 
siderable zeal among the priesthood of each Church to swell the 
number which represent their particular faith. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 75 

in religious matters ■ — the Social Democratic Party. 
Numerically this is the strongest party in the Im- 
perial Parliament. During the last decade certain 
Englishmen, including Messrs. Keir Hardie and 
Ramsay Macdonald, have endeavoured to raise Eng- 
lish hopes of peace by promises of what this party 
could and would do to prevent war. These gentle- 
men were no doubt honest in their convictions, but 
events have shown that their convictions were based 
upon ignorance of Germany and the German people. 
A most elementary knowledge of German conditions 
and character would have sufficed to convince any 
man of average Intelligence that the Social Demo- 
crats have no power In Germany — in spite of 
4,250,000 votes; further, that hatred and suspicion 
of England Is just as wide-spread among German 
Social Democracy as any other section of the Ger- 
man nation. Their battle against autocracy as well 
as their endeavours to improve the lot of the work- 
ing classes are objects for which we may rightly feel 
sincere sympathy, but their avowed hostility to reli- 
gion and the moral laws which hold the community 
together arouse our bitterest antagonism. It is an 
error to Imagine that the ideals pursued by Christian 
Socialists are identical with those of the German 
Social Democrats; In regard to religion and moral- 
ity they are diametrically opposite. Their official 
organs not infrequently contain articles bordering 
upon the blasphemous. Critical comment upon 



76 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Christianity is permitted even In Germany, but Social 
Democratic papers are seldom critical when dealing 
with religion; on the other hand they are frankly 
scornful and abusive. 

Just as the ecclesiastical authorities are endeavour- 
ing to get hold of Germany's youth in the schools, 
the Social Democratic party is trying to nullify the 
religious teaching imparted in the schools by giving 
anti-religious instruction in classes specially arranged 
for that purpose. To further this work a special 
literature for the young, including a catechism, has 
been written and diligently circulated among the 
children of the working classes. Its tendency is to 
arouse feelings of revolt against their condition in 
life and the Great Ruler of the world who permits 
these conditions. But the whole tone is such that the 
young mind has no difficulty In drawing the conclu- 
sion that there is no God — or these things would 
not be. 

The action of the Roman Catholic Church may be 
cited as evidence that that body Is fully alive to the 
atheistic tendencies of German Social Democracy. 
Not only in Parliament and in the Press and on the 
political platform, but also in economic questions the 
Catholic Church has declared war to the knife 
against this movement. In order to keep members 
of that Church from any kind of contact with 
this party she has organized special trade unions 
for Catholics. These Katholische Arheiterverhande 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 7T 

have in some districts — particularly Westphalia — 
a large and increasing membership. In striving for 
greater political freedom and better conditions of 
life for the working classes the two camps are one, 
but in respect to their estimation of religion and 
morality they are bitterly hostile. 

Until a few years ago the National Liberals were 
looked upon as Germany's hope; they are now 
known as the " Invertebrates." Their alliance, for 
political ends, with the Social Democrats was one of 
the reasons which led to their downfall at the last 
election. Sane people who still cherished religious 
principles, left a party which could ally itself in any 
shape or form with the advocates of atheism. 
Among those who refused to betray their religious 
convictions by a political alliance was Professor 
Geiger, leader of the Bavarian National Liberals. 
This gentleman assured the writer that he could not 
conscientiously connect himself in any way with a 
party whose avowed aims were social and religious 
disruption, consequently he resigned the party leader- 
ship. 

Yet the Social Democratic Party represents only 
too truly all that Germany possesses of religion, viz., 
materiahsm. Among the higher classes it is philo- 
sophic materialism; in the less- favoured strata of the 
community its practical interpretation — it is only 
this world's goods which count. 

The educated German despises religion, but the 



78 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

working classes are learning to hate it, if for no 
other reason than that it is a State religion, ergo — 
an essential part of the great tyranny which con- 
demns them to civilized servitude. 

In order to give more weight to the foregoing 
statements concerning the Social Democratic Party, 
the writer proposes to cite a few German authorities. 
A booklet ^ appeared in Germany twenty-five years 
ago, its purpose being to refute the programme of 
the above party as laid down at their Congress in 
Halle. Hundhausen, its author, draws especial at- 
tention to the party's teachings in regard to the 
family and marriage. 

The Social Democrats object to marriage for sev- 
eral reasons. Firstly, it is only an historical institu- 
tion, and can only be maintained in modern life by 
widespread prostitution. Secondly, it is an im- 
proper interference on the part of the State in the 
most intimate affairs of the individual. Thirdly, 
marriage is a hindrance to the realization of their 
Utopian State, in which the conditions will make 
marriage entirely superfluous. Hundhausen quotes 
two writers, including Herr Bebel, the late leader of 
the Social Democrats. Bebel wrote : " The grati- 
fication of sexual desire is purely a personal matter, 
just as much as the gratification of every other natu- 
ral appetite." The second writer maintained that 

6 ' W^arum wir nicht Social Demokraten sind " ("Why we are 
not Social Democrats"), by Theodor Hundhausen. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 79 

" modern consciousness and modern life make free 
love absolutely necessary." 

Herr Marx, the greatest thinker which the party 
has produced, founded the above teachings,^ in fact, 
none of the party have ever expressed themselves 
otherwise, therefore we must accept this anti-mar- 
riage, anti-moral doctrine as part of their official 
programme. 

At the Halle Congress another leader of the party 
declared: "Social Democracy fights against every 
religion and every faith." These were the words of 
Herr Liebknecht, member of the Reichstag for a 
Berlin constituency. 

Bebel expressed himself in a still more drastic 
form : " Social Democracy is not only an enemy 
{Gegnerin) of dogmatic faith, but we strive on prin- 
ciple to destroy the need for religion in mankind." 
Bebel begs the whole question in this sentence, for 
he has previously accorded licence in the gratification 
of natural (animal) appetites, but proposes to root 
out every spiritual desire, although that is surely as 
much a natural longing as those which he permits. 

Professor Diehl treats at considerable length the 
attitude of Social Democracy to religion. His care- 
fully compiled synopsis of the party's doctrine con- 

7 An excellent work on German Social Democracy is Professor 
Karl Diehl's university lectures delivered in Freiburg University. 
The work is entitled: " Socialismus, Kommunismus und Anarchis- 
mus." Vide p. 163 for Marx' teaching on marriage. 



80 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

eludes: *' For Marx and his followers religion is 
the hostile power against which they must fight. 
NeYv^ conditions will arise in the world and religion 
will disappear of itself; yet the party leaders recog- 
nize the widespread religious feeling among the 
masses. Therefore atheism is not made a condition 
of membership. Article six of the Social Demo- 
cratic programme only pledges the member to de- 
clare religion to be a private and personal matter." 
Diehl considers this a mere tactical dodge to enable 
the lukewarm to join the ranks of the Genossen 
(brothers or comrades) . 

A very frequently discussed question In Germany 
during recent years has been: " Can a Christian be 
a Social Democrat?" Professor Diehl discusses it 
from his point of view as a Professor of Philosophy, 
and shows very conclusively that a man who accepts 
the fundamental Idea of German Social Democracy 
cannot be at the same time a Christian. A conclu- 
sion in which the present writer unreservedly concurs. 

A few further data will help to define the power 
of the movement. In 1871, 124,700 Social Demo- 
cratic votes were recorded; at the Reichstag elec- 
tion in 19 1 2 this number rose to over 454 millions. 
The other Important parties recorded, National 
Liberals, 1,662,000; Roman Catholics (Centrum), 
1,996,000; Conservatives (Junker), 1,126,000; 
Popular Progressives (including several parties), 
1,497,000 votes. From which it will be seen that 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 81 

the Social Democrats had more than twice as many 
votes as the Roman CathoHc party. There is no 
doubt that if a just re-distribution of seats were in- 
troduced, the number of members representing Social 
Democracy in the Reichstag would increase very con- 
siderably. An American author writes;^ " I know 
nothing like German Socialism In the politics of other 
countries. The organization is quite extraordi- 
nary." 

The parents of to-day do not hope to realize 
their Ideals, but they neglect nothing which may 
make It possible for their children to attain them. 
The party possesses no fewer than 200 central cir- 
culating libraries, with 77 branches. By these means 
several million homes are provided with literature, 
specially written to counteract religious teaching and 
inculcate Social Democratic dogmas. Even the 
Kaiser's doctrine of " divine right " has not been 
overlooked; cleverly written works — carefully 
worded, so as to escape prosecution for lese-majestS 
— are In circulation for readers young and old. 

In addition to the permanent literature there are 
seventy-six daily papers and several illustrated peri- 
odicals assisting the work, while some fifty publishing 
houses are owned by members of the party. 

The returns for 19 12 show that 836,741 men and 
130,371 women were enrolled In the party register, 

s " Monarchical Socialism in Germany," by Elmer Roberts, Lon- 
don, 1913. 



82 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

i.e.^ as active members for polltcal purposes. The 
women's Social Democratic journal die Gleichheit 
(Equality) had 107,000 subscribers on its books. 

Truly, no mean power! And this weapon has 
been wielded against the forces of religion and mo- 
rality, and has achieved much — for the German 
workman of our time has no reverence for either 
spiritual or earthly authority. He renders unwill- 
ing obedience to the latter, however, for earthly 
authority does not bear the sword in vain. Against 
autocracy and German militarism. Social Democracy 
has also waged war, but achieved nothing! When 
the autocracy has increased its demands for arma- 
ments, then Singer, Liebknecht, Sudekum and Co. 
have on every occasion made a great noise in the 
Reichstag. They have written columns of useless 
vituperation (paid at a good rate from party funds) ; 
they have held mass meetings of the Genossen in all 
parts of Germany (thereby increasing their own In- 
comes by lecturing fees and expenses), and, lastly, 
when the vote has been put, they have ignominiously 
deserted their ideals of International peace by join- 
ing the " ayes " or abstaining from voting altogether. 
In either case the explanation given Is the same — 
tactical reasons. 

Let us take one instance only. In 19 13, when it 
was proposed to vote a '* special contribution " of 
fifty million pounds to increase the army, we wit- 
nessed the same spectacular agitation throughout 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 83 

Germany, a movement which must have caused very 
considerable funds to flow into the pockets of the 
paid Social Democratic agitators. Then the debacle 
in Berlin, when the party agreed to support the vote 
on condition that the richer classes supplied the neces- 
sary millions. 

Surely this was no war against armaments on 
principle, but it is a fair specimen of the methods 
of that party which Messrs. Keir Hardie and Ram- 
say Macdonald are still asking the British public 
to look to — even since the war began ! These gen- 
tlemen are welcome to lean on a " broken reed '* 
if it gives them pleasure, but England will be well 
advised to rely upon her own strong arm rather 
than expect help from the German Social Democrats, 
who have failed to produce any good thing among 
their own people. 

Before leaving this question it is necessary to add 
that among educated Germans, Social Democracy 
Is in bad odour, even among Liberals and Radicals. 
Many of the reasons for this have been cited, but 
one other is the assertion that the party leaders and 
writers are, with few exceptions, Jews. In other 
sections of the community they are designated 
" Jewish parasites," and their chief aim is said to be 
not revolution, but private profit. Their names, e.g., 
Marx, Luxembourg, etc., certainly go to prove their 
Hebrew origin; their motives may be left to the 
judgment of their contemporaries. 



84 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

*' Those who desire to get a true insight into 
the danger which Social Democracy means for the 
Empire, must be quite clear on this point, that the 
wholesale poisoning of German voters would have 
been utterly impossible without the help of the Jews. 
They are the real leaders of the movement and those 
upon whom the hopes for social destruction rest, 
belong also to this people." ^ 

The spread of Social Democratic teachings in 
Germany has only tended to increase class-hatred, 
envy and irreligion, and up to the present the Genos- 
sen have displayed no vestige of the brotherly feel- 
ings which they preach, towards the man who hap- 
pens to wear a better coat. 

Nuremberg and Furth are great industrial centres, 
employing many thousands of workmen, many of 
whom live in the surrounding villages, even so far 
afield as Erlangen, which is twelve miles distant 
from Nuremberg. Anyone travelling by the 6.17 
p.m. train from Nuremberg to Erlangen during peace 
times had a splendid opportunity of observing several 
hundred Sozis (German nickname ).^^ The train is 
always overcrowded and any attempt to ventilate 
meets with violent abuse. Language, conversation 
and manners illustrate in a forcible manner the gen- 

9 Daniel Freymann's book: "Wenn ich der Kaiser ware" 
("If I were Kaiser"), p. 42. 

10 It is a punishable oifence to call any man a Sozi, even if he is 
a Social Democrat. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 85 

eral brute level of Germany's lower classes. It is 
a convenient train for ladies to return by after a 
day's shopping in the larger city. Woe betide a 
lady if she is isolated among some fifty of the 
*' brothers." Vile obscenities and filthy songs are 
bandied about until she changes into another car- 
riage. 

The writer has travelled by this train on hundreds 
of occasions and often witnessed such scenes — treat- 
ment to which his own wife has been subjected. A 
gentleman is only " talked at," especially so if he is 
suspected of being connected with Erlangen Uni- 
versity. 

Herr Siidekum, the Social Democratic member for 
Nuremberg, has never been known to read his con- 
stituents a lesson on decent behaviour; while the 
party newspapers give more' than a veiled encourage- 
ment to this kind of " brotherly " {genossen-schafu 
liche) molestation. All in all, the beautiful theories 
propagated by the Social Democrats seem to have 
fallen by the wayside. 

Germany, however, deserves the pity of all those 
who still believe that Christianity is the greatest 
civilizing force of which this world can boast, for 
Germany's Christian Church is merely a civil-service 
department, commanding no one's reverence. The 
upper classes are intellectual materialists, and the 
lower ranks the victims of Germany's new religion 
— Social Democracy. 



CHAPTER V 

NATIONAL CHARACTER AND IDEALS 

jERHAPS the most disagreeable surprise which 
the year of fate, 19 14, prepared for the world, 
was the unmasking of German character — she her- 
self threw away the mask and displayed to the world 
quite another heart to that with which she had been 
credited. Like lago, the military dictator of Eu- 
rope had not " carried his heart on his sleeve for 
daws to peck at." 

In German schools and universities we have dis- 
covered other aims and ideals than those associated 
with the homes of English culture; equally different 
too is the ideal of character which is the basis of 
German national existence. 

Only a little more than a century ago serfdom was 
abolished among Teutons, while the degrading lex 
prima noctis survived up till 1848. Slavery is ac- 
knowledged to be a condition inimical to growth of 
character, and the German nation Is still too young 
to have thrown off its cramping influence. Added 
to this, a powerful autocratic government has been 
able to subject individual rights to its purposes, or 
rather to prevent those rights from coming into be- 
ing. 

86 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 8T 

The forces dominating the individual's behaviour 
and modes of Hfe have operated almost entirely from 
outside him, restraining and compelling him into a 
mould preconceived by a higher will — the will of 
the State. In some walks of Hfe he has been per- 
mitted extraordinary latitude, probably as a solace 
for curtailment in others, but the incontrovertible 
fact remains that he has never been allowed to be- 
come much other than what serves the State's pur- 
pose. 

This historical development accounts for the readi- 
ness with which the German adapts himself to the 
severest military discipline of modern times, for his 
uncomplaining surrender of a jewel which was never 
his — personal liberty. 

Germans dehght to talk of their Weltanschauung, 
or world-view of life, i.e., the individual's relation 
to the universe, more particularly, of course, to the 
defined part of it to which he belongs. This con- 
ception directs his outward bearing towards the 
phenomena designated as the world of sense, and 
regulates his feeling of responsibility. Teutonic 
responsibility is almost entirely restricted to those 
concrete duties demanded of him by the State, which 
leaves him extensive freedom with regard to ethical 
responsibility towards his fellow men and the en- 
tirety of humanity. 

In this system educative forces of incalculable 
worth have been prevented from exercising their 



88 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

powers, in the first place upon Individual, and ulti- 
mately upon national character. In a word, this 
means blind obedience to the dictates of the State, 
but licence in regard to his moral obligations to God 
and man. As a result, unquestioning obedience in 
" rendering unto Cssar the things which are 
Caesar's " has become the most characteristic trait in 
Teutonic character; an ideal above which the intelli- 
gence of the masses is quite incapable of raising them. 
For them the fulfilment of these duties means sal- 
vation in this v/orld and the next. 

No great nation is free from moral obliquity; in 
every community there are units which fall under the 
head " criminal classes," and to judge the whole by 
these would lead to mere error. A stranger who had 
only come in contact with the worst elements of East 
and West London would err if he based his esti- 
mate of English character upon these data. 

National character is a rough average of all the 
individual characters which make up the nation, and 
in order to strike this average their daily acts in the 
counting-house, street and home must be observed. 
Attention must be paid to those deeds which receive 
condemnation or praise from the largest number of 
citizens. In the process of time an image is formed 
in the observer's mind representing the standard of 
right and wrong which regulates the doings between 
these men. It is the observer's opinion of their 
national character — and it may be entirely wrong ! 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 89 

Nevertheless, for practical purposes It is necessary 
to accept the results of these methods, and then it is 
advisable to average the averages, for the divergence 
Is often such that they form contrasts. Some years 
back the Anglican Bishop of Northern Europe, In 
a letter to the Daily Mail, expressed the opinion 
that " the German is the finest gentleman In the 
world." This divine took the " gentleman " — prob- 
ably the English variety — as his standard, and 
found In his Investigations that the Teuton Is a 
*' perfect gentleman." 

The author has applied the same test, although 
his conception of this ideal may be imperfect, and 
the absolute idea of a gentleman may be ethically 
and philosophically wrong in itself, i.e., a wrong 
standard upon which to model our daily life. Yet 
even with these limitations the writer's observations 
led him to form an opinion contrary to the learned 
Bishop's. Moreover, he Is convinced that Germans, 
with few exceptions, do not look up to either the 
" gentleman " or the " lady " as ideals to strive after 
In this life; they do not accept these types In their 
highest moral conception as models whose virtues 
individuals should seek to emulate. 

It Is true, that in exteriors, they have slavishly 
imitated our " gentleman " — even to a degree of 
crude exaggeration — his dress and style, the clicking 
of heels and ceremonious bows, the raising of hats 
and kissing of hands; even the word " gentleman" 



90 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

has been added to the German language. But the 
gentleman whose " conscience is his king/^ who rec- 
ognizes the moral, non-compulsory obligations of 
life as equally binding as the written word, who regu- 
lates his life on some standard of duty towards God 
and his fellow men; this ideal of individual conduct 
is irreconcilable to the Germanic State. That Mol- 
och would be inconceivable, were it composed of 
such units. 

Private right and conscience must be sacrificed In 
absolute submission to the State's might; in return 
the individual receives an " indulgence " covering a 
multitude of sins in matters not touching the State's 
almighty will. 

Hence the ideal of Indivdual character accepted 
by Germans is seen to be something quite other than 
that known to us as a " gentleman." 

German national character is, in fact, a native 
growth, an ideal resulting from other conditions, and 
influenced by another sequence of historical events. 

The place of conscience is taken by what a German 
terms Ehrgefuhl (feeling of honour). In the 
prosaic language of common sense this may be 
classed as morbid egoism or diseased vanity. The 
German must be accepted at his own valuation or he 
is insulted. 

The ease with which a German may be offended 
is instructive for our purpose. It is an insult to 
accord him more than a passing glance; looking at 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 91 

a man too fixedly in a restaurant or any public 
haunt may involve the starer in a duel. Student-bul- 
lies lusting for combat adopt this method of pro- 
voking a fight; possibly because it is the quickest way 
to hostilities. He calls the process fixieren (fixing 
a man with your eyes) , and the aggrieved party will 
soon demand an explanation for this Verletzung 
seines Ehrengefiihls (wounding his honour). An 
exchange of cards, or an invitation to go outside to 
have his ears boxed, will follow, then the " affair of 
honour." Public opinion will applaud both as cour- 
ageous men of honour, but just as unanimously con- 
demn — even ostracize — the coward who appeals 
to a court of law for protection.^ 

In Germany insults may be compared (in the 
grammatical sense), like adjectives. The bad, 
worse, worst of insults is: a look, a word, a blow; 
an interpretation confirmed by the German penal 
code. Calling a man a " fool " or " donkey " ^ may 
lead to a severe fine, for the German code pos- 
sesses a law of insult in addition to a law of libel. 
In every legal district judges, magistrates and law- 
yers waste innumerable hours in setthng such cases, 
some of which appear in the press — fortunately 
only a small percentage ; still, sufiicient to show that 

II remember reading in the Augsburg papers of a man being 
heavily fined for staring at an enemy every time he met him. 

2iV. B. — In the presence of a third person who is prepared to 
affirm on oath. 



9^ THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

German character is morbidly sensitive and actively 
quarrelsome. 

The judicial statistics of the German Empire, pub- 
lished by the Imperial Statistics Office in Berlin, 
amply confirm the quarrelsomeness of Germans. 
The figures for insult cases are : 

Year. Persons charged. Number sentenced. 

1907 83,013 60,895 

1908 82,011 59)830 

1909 82,827 59^673 

1910 84,058 60,344 

1911 86,573 61,899 

For insulting and threatening officials, not In- 
cluded In the above figures : 

Year. Persons charged. Number sentenced. 

1907 35,226 27,418 

1908 34^453 26,803 

1909 32,999 25,677 

1910 31.775 24,668 

191 1 30*466 23,745 

The following true story will show how easy it 
Is to Insult the tender feelings of an official. Some 
years ago an English gentleman resident In Nurem- 
berg was absent from the town when the rates and 
taxes were collected. On his return he learned that 
the usual fines had been added as a punishment for 
his remissness. He visited the Tax-CoUector, to 
protest against this treatment. The official In- 
formed him that he ought to have given his landlady 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 93 

power of attorney before going on a holiday, then 
she could have acted for him. In the discussion the 
EngHshman exclaimed: "Das ist ein UnsinnI " 
(" That's nonsense ! ") whereupon he was threatened 
with an action for Beamtenheleidigung (insult to 
OiHcialdom) . Knowing that such an action would 
certainly lead to a heavy fine, perhaps imprisonment, 
he settled the matter by apologizing* Finally the 
Tax-Collector deigned to accept the apology, and his 
*' honour " was restored to its pristine brightness. 

In spite of the elegant outward etiquette which 
distinguishes the upper classes of Germany, there Is 
beneath these exteriors a striking lack of real con- 
sideration for the rights and comforts of others. 
The German mind seems singularly incapable of look- 
ing at things from the other man's point of view, 
consequently true sympathy is a feeling which he 
hardly knows. 

On the other hand Liehenswurdigkeit (kindness) 
and its corresponding adjectives are words freely in- 
terspersed in conversation, but their interpretation 
in actual life is mostly limited to exaggerated forms 
of superficial pohteness, which are seldom an index 
of the heart's motives. 

Casual tourists in the Fatherland have received 
these *' outward shows " as true coin, but the author 
has never heard " many-yeared " residents express 
any other opinion of German social life than that it 
is hollow, unsatisfying and lonely. 



94 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Although the writer counts his German acquaint- 
ances by thousands, he is obhged to admit that he 
suffered from the same feeling of loneliness and 
isolation during his stay on the other side of the 
German Ocean. One English lady used to say " she 
sincerely hoped it would never be her lot to die among 
the unfeeling Teutons." That lady had lived among 
them long enough to get below the veneer, to feel the 
absence of true feeling and to be sensitive of the at- 
mosphere of superficiality, mistrust and hardhearted- 
ness which characterizes everyday intercourse. 

In both countries the cry has been heard again 
and again, " The English and Germans ought to be 
able to understand each other and be friends.'^ As 
a matter of fact such a hope was destined from the 
very nature of things to remain a dream. The pro- 
saic undemonstrative Englishman seeks satisfaction 
in sincerity and good faith, while the Teuton is a 
mere slave to exteriors and keeps faith so long as it 
suits him.^ The German worships the uniform or 
the title, while the Anglo-Saxon coldly considers the 
man which wears them. England's greatest son de- 
clared, *' Manners maketh man," but Germany in 
theory and practice proclaims, " Knowledge maketh 

^ An English lawyer who often conducted cases for Germans in 
English courts said: "A German keeps a contract so long as all 
goes well. But should a strike or any other circumstance inter- 
vene to affect his profits, then the German merchant wriggles and 
endeavours by fair means or foul to get rid of his contract." My 
own observations confirm this opinion. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 95 

man." The one magnifies the heart, the affections, 
the feelings, while the other lauds the intellect and 
the sword as the " open. Sesame," of life's portals. 

As the one worships the human heart and soul, 
consequently his " manners " are inspired from 
within and are intended to show what he means in 
unaffected sincerity; but the German's " manners " 
are things learned by '* rule of thumb," and seldom 
reveal what lies beneath the surface — in fact they 
often are deliberately employed to conceal his inner 
motives. The writer has on many occasions ob- 
served German boys in secluded parts of public parks 
and gardens practising the latest swing in taking the 
hat off. Another little index to German character 
is found in the mirror which every German — male 
and female — carries in pocket or hand-bag. The 
pocket mirror appears anywhere and everywhere — 
In restaurant or drawing-room, in the train or In the 
street. It is one of the humorous " sights " of Ger- 
man cities to see a street-scavenger rest for a few 
minutes on his broom, take out his mirror — a little 
larger than a five-shilling piece — and carefully ar- 
range his moustache, etc. There is nothing to con- 
demn in these customs; they reveal the love of or- 
der and reverence for exteriors. The only regret- 
table point is that Germans do not lay the same value 
on matters hidden from the human eye. 

Friendship is " deep calling to deep," but how 
could deep call to shallow? The English admire a 



96 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

" refined " man or woman, whereas the Germans are 
satisfied with a person being liehenswurdig (kindly, 
obliging, but in reality the best translation is " gush- 
ing"). You may play the Teuton a dirty trick, 
if it is well sweetened with LiehenswurdigkeitJ^ but 
a word of unpleasant truth would awaken feelings 
of bitter hostility. 

Probably no greater delusion has gained currency 
than the one that Germans are sentimental. They 
may have been some generations ago, but certainly 
the present generation by no means deserve that 
accusation. Officialdom, militarism and intellectu- 
alism, as well as financial prosperity, have all done 
their part in restraining the growth or in obliterating 
the finer feelings. 

In fact the typical German of the middle and 
higher classes shows undisguised contempt for senti- 
ment in every form, whilst the vast numbers included 
under the present classes never have been civilized 
up to such a standard and remain to-day mere money- 
grubbing beasts of burden. But of these more will 
be said in another place. Here it may suffice to state 
that the affections play a very unimportant role in 
the economy of modern German life. Love of home 
and fidelity to its tender ties are antagonistic to the 
military ideal of character. Even feelings of affec- 
tion for school or alma mater are seldom mingled 
with the German's Iron conception of life and its 
duties. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 97 

Just as Treitschke's teachings dominate the ethics 
of the German State, so Nietzsche's doctrines have 
found general acceptance among individuals. Senti- 
ment, tenderness to the weak, whether young or old, 
respect for grey hairs are unfamiliar weaknesses 
amid Teutonic surroundings. 

Only too often one sees an aged mother or father 
installed in the homes of married children to be 
" used up " under conditions less congenial than those 
of a common drudge. But at their death the Press 
contains huge paid advertisements of their noble lives 
and many virtues — unappreciated in life — while 
the farewell addresses at the grave-side give utter- 
ance to German filial piety. 

The absence of any true sentiment for weaker be- 
ings is, however, best illustrated by Germany's at- 
titude to women. Plaything and drudge define her 
position only too truly. It is not surprising that 
millions of the lower classes are dissatisfied with a 
system which makes their daughters the legal prey 
of " better class " young men, although not a few 
seem quite content with these social arrangements.^ 

On proceeding to the university or obtaining a 
lieutenant's commission the young Teuton looks 

'*In Munich, for Instance, the student who has a liaison with a 
Burgertochter (daughter of a citizen family) often mixes quite 
freely in the family circle. On Sundays and holidays he may be 
seen with the family, sitting in a Biergarten or other place of 
amusement. Neither thinks of marriage; it is the accepted order 
of things, and, most surprising of all, no dishonour to the gv.l. 



198 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

around for a Verhdltnis (in Munich dialect Gesch- 
pusi), and will have no difficulty in forming such a 
friendship with a shop-girl, waitress, better-class serv- 
ant-girls, daughters of small tradesmen and officials, 
€ven family governesses, etc. He incurs no other 
obligations than paying for entertainments, excursions 
and such-like. During his pre-marital years he may 
form many such irregular acquaintanceships ; this will 
by no means restrict his social activities, although his 
Don Juan proclivities may form a delectable subject 
of conversation for ladies over cups of coffee. No 
German would think of forbidding him his home on 
that account; so long as he confines his amours to 
girls vom Volke (from the people) everything is 
quite in order, and the girl, too, is considered quite 
*' respectable," so long as she is true to Don Juan. 
But should she induce him to marry her ^ a storm of 
bitter indignation will disturb the bosoms of her bet- 
ter-placed sisters. Rich Gretchen tolerates poor 
Gretl in the role of plaything, there is no protest, no 
condemnation, but should das Mddchen vom Volke 
steal a husband from circles above her, mere words 
can hardly express rich Gretchen's horror at this 
abominable crime. How far this cancer-growth has 
spread its roots, even among the girls of better- 

s English Registrars' Offices have often been the scene of such! 
marriages. Various agents advertise in German newspapers offer- 
ing to arrange preliminaries and act as interpreters at these cere- 
monies. Truth contained an exposure of the practice some years 
back — about 1907. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 99 

class families, cannot be declared — aher man sagt! 

A work published in 19 14 throws some light on 
this unpleasant question. In discussing the enormous 
spread of " free love " in Germany the author writes : 
" Free love, formerly common in the lower classes, 
is now frequent among better-class girls {hoheren 
Tochter) . This has not been caused by temptation, 
to which a girl succumbs or may successfully resist. 
But it is the widespread acceptance of the doctrine, 
so diligently proclaimed in certain quarters, of the 
right to love, and because of the rejection, as old- 
fashioned, of the usual estimate placed upon chastity.; 
Society pardons anything except a scandal.^ 

If corroboration of these statements were nec- 
essary, then it may be found in newspaper adver- 
tisements, Germany's unlimited posterestante corre- 
spondence,^ her humorous papers and modern 

6 "Moral und Gesellschaft des 20. Jahrhunderts " ("Morality 
and Society in the Twentieth Century ")^ by Fritz Berolzheimer. 
Published in Berlin, 1914. Vide p. 293. 

'^ A few years ago the postal authorities prohibited boys and 
girls under sixteen from having letters addressed poste restante. 
Moral reformers have agitated for further restrictions in vain, 
yet half an hour spent in any large German post-office would con- 
vince any observer that this mode of correspondence flourishes — 
and the young girls fetching their letters are not business people! 
In every large post-office there is a special staff to hand out these 
secret communications, and between twelve and two o'clock and 
five and eight o'clock, generally, a considerable queue of young 
people may be seen waiting their turn at the counter. There are 
usually two counters, one for initials A to P, the other Q to Z. 
A notice hangs on the wall: "The name. Initials, or number 
must be written and handed to the official." Germany's motto Is 
" thorough." 



100 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

light literature, indeed in all her public places. 

Immorality in Germany is widespread — not in- 
cluding State-regulated vice — it is not only toler- 
ated, but laughed at; it is not the result of climate, 
but of cold-blooded, calculated materialism; it is what 
Nietzsche called Herrenmoral (gentlemen's moral- 
ity), which sanctions every indulgence of the super- 
man at the expense of his weaker sisters. 

Germany has no public opinion to protect the wait- 
ress ^ and girls of the lower middle classes. But the 
chivalry of her sons! (?) Why, the girl "hon- 
oured " in this manner calls her lover mein Cava- 
Iter. 

Martin Luther denounced the immorality of Ger- 
man cloisters, but no modern Martin Luther^ has 
arisen to denounce das Verhdltnis; although Ger- 
many's Tom Hoods fill their weekly comic papers 
with endless jokes on this theme, a German '' Bridge 
of Sighs " has yet to be written. 

Most remarkable of all is rich Gretchen's attitude 
to this question. Her moral sensibilities never lead 
her to reject a husband who has devoted ten or fifteen 

8 The number of waitresses employed in Germany must be enor- 
mous, but their social standing — if they have one — is low indeed. 
Kellnerin (waitress) is a word always associated with such 
** friendships " as described above. 

9 In " Christian Hospices " I have sometimes seen pamphlets and 
periodicals dealing with morality, but the fact remains that the 
Churches in Germany have never begun any effective crusade 
against the flagrant injustice which delivers up the middle and 
lower-class women to the lusts of well-to-do young men. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 101 

years of his life to the " primrose paths of dal- 
liance." When spoken to on such a delicate subject 
a German woman usually answers : " Ach ! was kann 
man doch machen? Das ist ja Herrenmoral." 
(" What is to be done? That is gentlemen's moral- 
ity.") She is content to get a husband, but when she 
becomes a mother she neglects her opportunities of 
combating Herrenmoral by instilling into her sons the 
first elements of chivalry. It Is all " part and par- 
cel " of German life ! What rights have these 
*' girls from the masses " ? They are the weak and 
must be sacrificed to the strong. 

Next to sympathy and chivalry another important 
test of character is the power to feel true gratitude. 
But here again Teutonic character leaves much to be 
desired. It would lead too far to give single in- 
stances, yet the most casual student of history will 
be able to recall instances of English help for Ger- 
many from Napoleon I. to the present day. Open 
markets for German goods in Great Britain and her 
colonies; the giving up of Heligoland; hundreds and 
thousands of Germans gaining their livelihood in this 
country, including some scores in our universities and 
Government offices; in fact, no door has been closed 
to them, not even the doors of Parliament, no honour 
to which they could not aspire, and yet, in spite of 
all this and much more, the writer has never read a 
word of gratitude in the German Press, nor heard one 
from German lips — on the contrary, only abuse. 



102 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

English hospitality has been an excellent means to 
spy, and England's friendship has only called forth 
diatribes from Bismarck onwards. The German is, 
above all, a cynic who will employ another's senti- 
ment to his own advantage — but afterwards ridicule 
the weakness. 

The only virtues which could be unreservedly as- 
cribed to the German are obedience and thrift; but 
they are obedient because they must be, not from 
spontaneous respect for those in authority. His in- 
dustry and thrift are, however, unlimited and de- 
serve unstinted praise, except where they degenerate 
into greed and engender envy.^^ No charge has been 
oftener made than the accusation that the English 
envy Germany, but when called upon to substantiate 
the statement Germans can only fall into the well- 
worn formulas of abuse. 

In summing-up Germans are characterized by un- 
bounded vanity, love of secrecy, morbid sensitive- 
ness, envy, absence of consideration for others, a 
strong tendency to revert to " the ape and tiger " ; 
Germans lack true sentiment and affection, but have 
a remarkable inclination to reckless, brutal self-as- 
sertion. 

These seventy million human beings have not long 

^^ I am of the opinion that one of the strongest motives behind 
the Social Democratic movement in Germany is innate envy. In 
trade and amongst officials, in schools and universities, envy stalks 
by day and night. There is an expression which Germans often 
use to describe this; it is: Brodneid =zhiea.d-enyy. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY lOS 

since shaken ojff feudal fetters, and since that time 
they have been hke clay in the hands of the potter. 
A strong autocratic government has moulded them 
for its ends. They have been drilled and intellectual- 
ized, but neither freed nor regenerated. 

Beneath the intellectual veneer and imitated man- 
ners lies Germany's heart — a heart which has not 
been changed either by culture or Christianity. The 
Romantic Revival and the War of Liberation pro- 
duced only Weltschmerz (world-pain) , Sturm und 
Drang, but were not succeeded by a humanitarian 
movement. 

Early In January, 19 15, the Morning Post, In a 
leading article on Mr. Norman Angell's book, " Prus- 
sianism and its Destruction," ^^ quotes that writer as 
stating that " some half-dozen professors and a few 
writers and theorists — Nietzsche, Treitschke, and 
their school — have radically transformed the nature 
and character of some seventy million souls." In 
that sentence Mr. Norman Angell betrays his com- 
plete ignorance of a subject which only presumption, 
or the natural desire to profit by his writings, could 
have induced him to write upon. 

11 The author has not read Mr. Norman Angell's book and has 
no intention of doing so. He is, however, astonished at the 
temerity of this gentleman in writing about a country and a people 
of which he knows nothing — not even the German language. I£ 
Mr. Norman Angell knows Prussia, why did he not write on the 
subject and warn the world — including the British public — be- 
fore the war? All in all, this gentleman would do well to study 
humanity itself, and not exploit it with his worthless opinions. 



104 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

The national *' character " of Germany and the 
*' nature " of Germans have not been transformed 
by professors and theorists. Character, both na- 
tional and individual, has always been of the brutal 
type in the Fatherland; the success of Treitschke and 
his school is due to the fact that their teachings were 
acceptable to the nation — In short, the seed fell upon 
good ground. But It Is a ridiculous theory to im- 
agine that the seed " transformed " the soil. 

The writer In question — although German 
sources are a closed book to him — should at least be 
acquainted with the writings of Byron, Shelley, Rus- 
kin, Charles Reade and a host of others, who bear 
testimony to German character being dlsgusting,^^ 
brutal, and permeated with a love of destruction. 

Bavarians love to talk of Gemiitlichkeit (good- 
natured, easy-going disposition) as their national 
characteristic. The Prussian prides himself on his 
Schneidigkeit (smartness, effrontery and go). It is 
Interesting to note that the Prussian ideal has sup- 
planted the Bavarian. A German who has plenty 
of dash, is overbearing to Inferiors, who speaks 
shortly and sharply, repulses friendly advances with 
abruptness ar^d brims over with self-assertion — .is a 
true German. He commands respect and admira- 
tion — because he embodies the qualities which Teu- 

^2 Shelley In his diary — the author is quoting from memory — 
speaks of " the disgusting Germans." Dr. Ackermann, the German 
biographer of Shelley, translates the phrase "die ividerivdrtigen 
Deutschen." 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 105 

tons admire. Of him it is said : *' Der hat Schneid ! '' 
(" He is a keen fellow! ") In reality, however, he 
is a swashbuckler minus his weapons. " We Ger- 
mans have very little capacity to make moral and cul- 
tural conquests, and as we have, already remarked, 
it is especially a North German characteristic — and 
the Prussians dare not deny the charge — that they 
cannot understand the peculiarities of another peo- 
ple and are unable to establish friendly, harmonious 
relations with other men. This weakness has its 
roots in the steadily increasing Prussian influence on 
German character, above all the trait of personal 
abruptness (Schrofheit — rudeness) in the inter- j 
course of everyday life. We are accustomed to call \ 
this quality smartness {Schneidigkeit) ^ but it cov- 
ers only too frequently merely arrogance of caste or 
nationality. This Prussian-German Schneidigkeit 
injures Germany in the outside world both from a 
political and cultural point of view." ^^ 

13 "Der deutsche Gedanke" ("The German Idea"), by Paul 
Rohrbach, p. 227. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE GERMAN ARMY AND COURTS-MARTIAL 

VISITORS to Germany before the European 
War were generally surprised to find the 
Germans not only proud of their great fighting 
machine, but also unreserved and enthusiastic sup- 
porters of the militaristic idea. So many anti-con- 
scription writers had led the British public to be- 
lieve that young Teutons were forcibly dragged 
from their homes like press-gang victims to render 
unwilling service to the Kaiser, under conditions sim- 
ilar to the galley-slaves in the fleets of ancient Rome,; 
that it came as a surprise to many, to learn that Ger- 
mans felt sincere pleasure, as well as pride, In wear- 
ing the Kaiserrock (Emperor's uniform) . 

October ist is the fateful day on which several 
hundred thousand recruits flock to the colours, and 
during the few days previous to entering the army 
young Germany gives Itself up to festivity. In the 
villages a characteristic sight at the end of Septem- 
ber is the decorated wagons full of young fellows be- 
ing drawn from one beer-house to the next. They 
form a merry crowd, carrying beer-tankards, sing- 
ing lustily and shouting prosit! to every passer-by. 

io6 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY lOT 

Each of these happy days concludes with dancing 
and music till late in the night. It is the recruit*s 
last " good time " before submitting to the most 
rigorous of all the disciplines which shape his life. 
The writer has witnessed many such scenes without 
detecting any unwillingness among the men, although 
it would be wrong to assume there are none of the 
recruits who would rather not go. 

Occasionally the papers reported cases of young 
fellows being court-martialled for having accident- 
ally (?) cut off a finger or mutilated themselves in 
some manner, to make themselves unfit for military 
service, but such reports were rare. If a man does 
not present himself on October ist a warrant is im- 
mediately issued for his arrest as a deserter. The 
German army statistics for 191 1 give the number of 
deserters in that year at 1,089; ^^^ during the same 
year 661 deserters afterwards joined the colours and 
w^ere punished. Many of these were undoubtedly 
deserters from previous years, and if we subtract the 
two numbers we obtain a net loss to the army of 428 
men through desertion. The result is only approxi- 
mate, but whether we accept the larger number (i,- 
089) or the smaller (428), the proportion of de- 
serters — from over 250,000 recruits plus 500,000 
men already in the army — is insignificant. 

For mutilation in order to escape service a man 
may be sentenced to several years' penal servitude. 
A deserter sacrifices all property and civil rights; 



108 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

if he visits the Fatherland in later years he does so at 
the risk of arrest and severe punishment. 

Another mode of escaping military service is to 
smoke large numbers of cigarettes and drink quanti- 
ties of beer for a few days previous to the medical 
examination. Students sometimes do this, and if 
the man is in a students-corps, he may have himself 
examined by a medical man who is an ex-member of 
the corps. In this manner also certificates of exemp- 
tion are occasionally procured. 

A man who does not serve is looked upon as a 
shirker of the worst kind, and even if a man is ex- 
cused for medical reasons he is to a certain extent 
despised. It is a fact on which he prefers to keep 
silence, evidently because he feels himself to be out- 
side the national brotherhood. To see thousands 
of these men disappear with laughter and song, with 
apparent enjoyment, into German barrack life is an 
Inspiring sight. They submit themselves to the great 
military " must " — because they must. 

Since returning to his native country the writer 
has witnessed a sight still more Inspiring, in that he 
has seen tens of thousands of England's sons flock- 
ing to arms; because they may and will. They sub- 
mit themselves to military discipline because they 
will, and therein lies the superiority of moral worth. 

There are, speaking generally, two classes of sol- 
diers in the German army, viz., those who serve full 
time and the men who serve only one year. Full- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 109 

time men must serve two years In the artillery or In- 
fantry and three years If In the cavalry. 

The one-year-men are called Einjahri^e-Frei- 
willige and when addressed by a superior Herr 
Einjdhriger (Mr. One-year-man). An examina- 
tion must be passed In order to obtain the two years' 
exemption. This examination Is held In the State 
schools and the candidates must be sixteen years of 
age. Boys who cannot afford to remain at school 
so long often prepare for It by private study. 

A boy of good family Is obhged to gain this certi- 
ficate or lose caste by serving as a common soldier 
{Gemeiner) , At the age of nineteen or twenty he 
announces himself to the nearest military authority, 
at the same time he must produce his " one-year- 
certificate." He Is not obliged to enter the army 
Immediately, and should he desire to go abroad or 
to a university, the authorities allow him to postpone 
his term of service till his twenty-fourth year, but 
seldom longer. 

In all university towns a considerable number of 
the students are one-year-men serving in the army. 
iThey are enrolled as students, pay the fees, but 
-seldom appear at lectures; the terms are reckoned by 
the academic authorities. In peace time from twenty 
to fifty soldiers of this class are attached to each 
regiment; the colonel's permission must be ob- 
tained before a man can join. In the case of crack 
regiments, private means and social standing are 



110 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

factors which a colonel takes Into consideration. 

Just as his less fortunate comrades, the one-year- 
volunteer enters barracks on October ist — in North 
Germany April ist — and for the next three weeks 
he lives in the barracks. No recruit is allowed to go 
into the streets before he has mastered the elements 
of military deportment, saluting and other minor 
details. 

One-year-men receive no assistance from the State, 
they must bear the whole expense of uniforms and 
kit as well as board and lodging. After the three 
weeks' preliminary drill they live either in lodgings 
or at home if that Is possible. In the evenings they 
are generally free and form a familiar sight in res- 
taurant, coffee-house, theatre and other places of 
amusement. They are easily distinguishable by their 
smart well-fitting uniforms with blue and white cord- 
ing round the shoulderstraps. 

Needless to add they do not go through the rough- 
est part of military life. They have no authority 
over ordinary soldiers, but still form a class by them- 
selves between the rankers and officers. In the 
streets they never walk with long-service men, and 
of course are never seen in the company of officers, 
unless they meet as guests at a dinner-party or other 
private function. Their training is supplemented by 
class instruction In tactics and the theory of warfare. 
In war time if their superiors have fallen, they may 
be called upon to take command. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 111 

It IS an universal custom for these men to give 
gratuities to the N.C.O.'s of their company. Such 
gifts are voluntary only in name, for if a wealthy 
young man neglected to give his sergeant, etc., the 
customary Schmier (wagon grease — slang for tip) 
It is quite certain that his superiors would make his 
twelve months' military service as unpleasant as pos- 
sible. 

The writer has never heard of a one-year-man re- 
ceiving a blow from an N.C.O., but they no doubt 
get the usual amount of barrack-yard abuse. In 
fact numerous men of this class have told the author 
how degrading it Is for them — ^men of education 
— to be sworn at and abused with disgusting names 
by " ein rohes ungebildetes Vieh " ("a rude unedu- 
cated beast "). 

As already mentioned, they are free to take their 
meals where they like, consequently they are familiar 
figures In all the better-class restaurants, and It Is 
interesting to observe them give a keen glance round 
the room on entering to see If any officers are present. 

After the waiter has hung up the man's mantle, 
helm and sword — if an officer Is in the restaurant — 
he goes to the latter's table and stands stiffly at at- 
tention behind his superior's chair till the salute Is 
acknowledged. And If half a dozen are sitting at 
so many different tables the salute has to be given to 
each of them. The same formalities precede the 
soldier's exit from the premises. If an officer, 



11£ THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

whom he has not previously saluted, passes his table 
he must Immediately spring to attention. In the 
street also the same punctiliousness Is observed, and 
includes salutes to N.C.O.'s. 

The writer has often observed a sentry present 
arms to an officer crossing the street two hundred 
yards away. Cavalrymen and artillerymen will 
avoid saluting an Infantry N.C.O. If possible, but 
there Is the risk of several days In the guardroom 
for such an oversight. 

In reference to the presents given to N.C.O.'s a 
good story Is told of a Nuremberg regiment. Sev- 
eral one-year-men subscribed to present the sergeant 
with a piano. The N.C.O. was delighted, and If 
report be true the men had an agreeable year In the 
army, after which they returned to civilian life. A 
few weeks later an agent called on the sergeant to 
collect the next Instalment for the piano ! 

The minimum cost to a man during his year's serv- 
ice IS £ioo; In cavalry or artillery regiments It 
amounts to several hundreds. In return for these 
sacrifices the Individual obtains various privileges In 
addition to certain social status, i.e., he belongs 
to the class which may give or demand satisfac- 
tion. 

After the completion of the normal year's service 
they have still two or three supplementary drills — ■ 
at yearly intervals — of eight weeks. On continu- 
ing these drills for several years one-year-men can 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 113 

obtain the rank of reserve officer, and a large pro- 
portion of them follow that course. 

If the man enters any branch of the civil service, 
his chances of promotion are considerably enhanced 
by being an officer of the reserve. Such officers de- 
fray all the expenses of uniform and kit, in fact, 
many lessons of patriotic self-sacrifice may be learned 
from the German army; in many cases the cost 
greatly exceeds the material gain. One privilege 
highly esteemed by reserve officers is the right to 
appear in uniform when entering the married state. 
On the Kaiser's birthday he parades the streets in 
uniform, and before he is laid in his coffin he is 
carefully attired in the same.^ 

Full-time soldiers live in the barracks and are sub- 
ject to German military discipline in the most com- 
prehensive sense of the word. Every man receives 
2j^d. per diem, but this is not looked upon as pay- 
ment. His food is plain and consists largely of 

1 In Germany the dead are always dressed before being placed 
in the coffin. If the deceased had the right to wear a uniform in 
life, then he sleeps his last sleep therein. Better-class civilians 
are dressed for the grave in evening dress or frock-coat; but in 
every case the best which he possessed in this life. After this 
ceremony is finished a religious ceremony follows, and the coffin 
is immediately removed to the public mortuary. In every ceme- 
tery there is a special building for this purpose. Young girls are 
dressed in white with a wreath round the head; a married woman 
is always buried In the black dress worn at her marriage ceremony 
in the registry office. The coffin remains open till a few minutes 
before the interment; all relations and friends attend the last 
ceremony and look at the dead. 



114f THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

black bread. Most of the men are able to supple- 
ment this fare by hampers from home, and the civil- 
ian population show considerable kindliness and gen- 
erosity to them. 

The uniform is the emblem of the Kaiser, and 
Germans feel it to be the emblem of Germany — in 
either case it commands respect. Nothing which 
has been written concerning the obliteration of in- 
dividuality in the German army could exaggerate 
the true state of affairs. The authorities have a 
certain ideal of the perfect soldier, and the whole 
machinery from the Highest War Lord down to the 
N.C.O. is arranged so as to turn out the desired 
pattern. Above all he must be without individual 
will or desire. Whatever the War Lord wills that 
must be his will. He is trained and drilled till he 
becomes an efficient machine. When an officer is 
addressing him, he becomes a rigid figure without 
a gleam of expression in his countenance. During 
those moments his superiors' will becomes his own 
— and afterwards he puts it into execution. All 
Germans love discipline, and when they escape from 
it hardly know what to do with themselves; the su- 
perior will is missing and the individual will is not 
developed; on the contrary, It is effaced. So It Is 
from the cradle to the grave for millions of Ger- 
mans, but their mental and cultural development has 
only reached that stage which makes this the best 
system for getting the last ounce out of the last man. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 115 

No real military discipline can be obtained with- 
out sacrifice on the part of the soldier. The German 
soldier makes the greatest sacrifice of all — person- 
ality; and the State is thus able to construct the most 
disciplined army-machine in the world. 

A soldier's life never has been and never can be 
a bed of roses, but probably there are fewer roses 
and more thorns for the common soldier in the Ger- 
man army than in any other modern military system. 
A quick, intelligent fellow may possibly adapt him- 
self easily to the requirements, but the vast majority 
of Germany's peasant classes are neither quick nor 
intelligent; they are heavy and inert to stupidity. 

Such material Is not raised to the standard of 
military precision In vogue without endless labour. 
The N.C.O. has the task of shaping the human ma- 
terial, and he is responsible In the first Instance for 
getting the required efficiency Into the men. It is 
true the law permits only moral suasion, but he uses 
other kinds of persuasion, e.g., a kick or a blow. If 
he IS court-martialled for ill-treating subordinates he 
is sure of sympathetic judges, who, if they must con- 
demn him, will give him the benefit of " extenuating 
circumstances," which means, " being too zealous In 
the performance of duty." Furthermore, the offi- 
cers are not In sympathy with the men, whom they 
look upon as the Urvieh (original beast) or Sau- 
dummerhund (swine-stupid dog). They and the 
N.C.O.'s are responsible for the Urvieh becoming 



116 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

a soldier, and as he is of this material they cannot be 
blamed for employing suitable methods to attain 
the desired end. The end is everything, because it 
must be attained. 

Without doubt the discipline of the German sol- 
dier is on a very high level, and those who know 
young Germans of the lower classes before entering 
the army may wonder how It Is possible. The trans- 
formation scene in the barrack-yard, is hidden from 
the public eye, but the process must be painful In the 
extreme. 

It Is difficult to write about German barrack life, 
because those who know it from experience may not 
speak of It. A soldier dare not talk of the happen- 
ings In army life; they are militdrische Geheimnisse, 
The kick of a sergeant or the mechanism of a new 
cannon are both " military secrets," and a soldier 
who spoke of them to a mere civilian would expose 
himself to severe punishment. 

The teachers In the State schools and officials In 
all Government services are compelled to observe 
official secrecy {Amtsverschwiegenheit) ^ and this is 
naturally much stricter in the case of the army. 

In 19 14 the Social Democratic leader Rosa Lux- 
embourg stated In a public speech that " there are 
countless tragedies enacted in German barracks 
every year." 

The Union of N.C.O.'s complained to the War 
Office, and the Public Prosecutor began an action 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 117 

against the lady for slandering the army. At the 
trial in July last she pleaded justification and de- 
manded that many hundreds of witnesses — N.C. 
O.'s and privates — should be called in order that 
the truth of her statement might be proved. If this 
course had been pursued the Social Democratic Party 
would have been supplied with an unlimited amount 
of ammunition for purposes of agitation. Details 
would have been made public which would have in- 
jured the military party; in a word, the latter would 
have been led into a trap. The Public Prosecutor 
recognized the position, and the case was adjourned 
sine die, which meant that the courts would not be 
troubled with the charge again. War intervened, 
effectually preventing further developments. 

Of course a private can complain of ill-treatment 
to his captain and the N.C.O. will be summoned be- 
fore a court-martial. Even then it is impossible 
for the general public to learn the rights of the af- 
fair; in the papers reports like the following appear: 

*' Sergeant X. was court-martialled for ill-treat- 
ing his subordinates. Forty instances were cited and 
fifty witnesses called. In the interests of military 
discipline the press and public were excluded from 
the trial. Sergeant X. was found guilty with ex- 
tenuating circumstances and was sentenced to three 
days mild arrest." That is to say, if the officer ac- 
cepts the verdict he remains in the bosom of his 
family for three days, but In most cases he does not 



118 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

put up with such an " injustice " ; he appeals to a 
higher court, and very often succeeds In getting the 
record expunged. 

Privates who have participated in the trial by giv- 
ing adverse evidence may expect a warm time from 
the sergeant In question and every other N.C.O. with 
whom they come In contact. Every trick In the 
arsenal of cunning brutality will be employed to 
make the men regret ha\'ing endangered discipline. 

The authorities' point of view is that their raison 
d^etre is the maintenance of military efficiency and 
not the administration of justice. Ordinary concep- 
tions of right and justice must be left outside the 
barrack gates; within, the will of the army Is the 
first and last consideration. The end Is military effi- 
ciency, which includes absolute submission of every 
shred of personality; the end justifies the means, be 
they moral suasion or brutal ill-treatment. Cer- 
tainly any legal artifice, sometimes open disregard of 
right. Is resorted to In order to screen non-commis- 
sioned officers from punishment. An interesting 
paragraph occurs In an anonymous work published 
in 1890, ^^ der judische soldat im deutschen Heer^' 
("The Jewish Soldier in the German Army.") 
There is no reason to believe that conditions have 
improved, which justifies a quotation from p. 17, 
et seq.: " The private is too browbeaten and afraid 
of the consequences of complaining, for he says to 
himself: * My superior will be punished for the 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 119 

wrong done to me, but for years I shall have to suffer 
as a result of his punishment.' If a two-year man Is 
convicted for a military offence his punishment gen- 
erally includes an extra year in the army. Soldiers 
fear this punishment above all others as a result of 
complaints. An N.C.O. can cause a man. all sorts of 
unpleasantnesses against which there is no protec- 
tion whatever. He has power to rob a private of 
all his leisure by giving him extra jobs, and he can 
embitter his life by all kinds of harassing hardships 
and oppression. Besides, he can follow him with 
eyes of hate and catch him up for the most harmless 
sins of omission or commission. Every reader 
who knows barrack-yard life can confirm this. Thea 
there is the consideration that a captain hates ta 
have complaints In his company, because he must 
report them to his superiors. Lastly It is well- 
known that a man who has made a complaint Is gen- 
erally carpeted In the sergeant's office and the In- 
jurious consequences of his course pointed out to 
him; in a word he Is bullied into withdrawing it.'* 

Imagine for a moment that an accusation Is made 
by an N.C.O. against a private, e.g., for disobedience 
{Verweigerung des Geshorsams Is the military desig- 
nation) ; then the press Is not excluded, for the evil- 
doings of a mere private are public property. Pub- 
licity exercises " moral influence " on public opinion 
in these cases, and on such occasions the severest pos- 
sible punishment will be dealt out to offenders. 



120 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

The difficulty of obtaining facts bearing on this 
question will be appreciated by readers after reading 
the following Instances. About two years ago a 
sergeant was sitting in a beer-garden, when two 
civilians seated themselves at the same table. Con- 
versation of a friendly kind ensued in which the 
N.C.O. committed the fatal error — in Germany — 
of frankly expressing his opinion to strangers. The 
topic of conversation was German officers, and the 
sergeant spoke bitterly of the manner In which com- 
missioned officers treat their subordinates. He even 
expressed the belief that " In the next war more Ger- 
man officers would be shot In the back by their own 
men, than would be accounted for by the enemy." ^ 
/ Like true Germans, the two civilians reported the 
conversation to the sergeant's commanding officer.^ 
He was court-martlalled and sentenced to degrada- 
tion and two years' Imprisonment. 

2 This may explain why German officers have not led, but driven 
their men into battle during the present war. 

2 In spite of the excellent proverb, " Der Denunziant ist der 
grosste Lump im Land" ("The tale-bearer is the biggest scoundrel 
in the land"), denunciation flourishes in all classes of society. 
It is alike, the weapon at Court (the Crown Prince has often had 
things confided to him in order that the Kaiser may hear of them) 
and in petty officialdom. One instance will illustrate the Crown 
Prince's activities in this domain. When Gerhart Hauptmann's 
patriotic play was produced at Breslau in 1913, the Catholic 
Archbishop of Breslau wrote to the Crown Prince informing him 
that the Hohenzollerns were not exactly glorified in the piece and 
requesting him to communicate with the Kaiser. He did, and the 
vials of imperial wrath were poured on the Silesian capital and 
the playwright. Vide p. 47. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 121 

If an educated German is questioned on these 
matters he defends them as necessary evils: 
" Diese Bauernkerle miissen abgerichtet werden!" 
("These chawbacon fellows must be knocked into 
shape.") If he has any qualms of conscience they 
are smoothed over in the belief that it is all for 
the good of the Fatherland and the fellow himself. 
The military system must be right, for Germany 
has been singularly barren of John Hampdens. 

" In the interests of military discipline," is the 
great Teutonic Juggernaut before which parents 
must cast their sons and before which every other 
right must give way. There is no way open for 
soldiers In barracks to escape from the brutalities 
of army life, and no power or public opinion In 
Germany capable of checking them. A very real 
dread of jumping from the frying-pan Into the 
fire suppresses any Inclination at revolt which 
soldiers may feel. 

Every year, however, a considerable number do 
escape from the torments of military life, but it 
Is only by putting themselves beyond the reach of 
human justice. Suicides are fairly common, al*- 
though the official report generally represents them 
In another light. 

Here Is an example of what the writer has read 
In German papers on several occasions: "Private 
A. B. was found on the pavement before the 
barracks with his skull smashed. The poor ^ gone- 



122 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

over-there-one ' {der Dahingeschiedene = deceasedy 
was a somnambulist and had presumably fallen 
from a window on the second story. Private A. B. 
was a good soldier and popular among his comrades 
and superiors. No reason whatever Is known 
which could arouse a suspicion that the deceased 
had voluntarily gone to his death." Those who are 
sufficiently credulous may believe that the dead 
man had not committed suicide; the writer had 
never any doubts when reading such reports, but 
*' the Incredible spirit of submission, of discipline 
and of secrecy which prevails In Germany " * renders 
It Impossible to fathom such mysteries. 

In order to realize the brutal cynicism of German 
military courts It Is helpful to consider the quarrel 
between Henry II. and Thomas a Becket over the 
ecclesiastical courts, which enjoyed privileges sub- 
versive to civil justice. The same conditions 
prevail In modern Germany, with the difference 
that the military courts possess far greater powers 
than the old church courts, and concerning persons 
subject to military discipline they have the last word. 
Furthermore, there Is no one who dare oppose or 
criticize them. Their sentences for offences com- 
mitted by officers, commissioned or non-commis- 
sioned, are for the most part venal ; the punishments 
which they mete out to ordinary soldiers brutal. 

It is the writer's conviction that the military 

* The Times' issue of the French Yellow Book, p. 4, column 4. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 123 

courts are at the root of all the social evils accruing 
from German militarism. They are the Star 
Chambers by means of which the military autocracy 
is able to maintain itself. Only by these means 
could the thousand-and-one injustices of German 
national life exist. The sentence of death on 
Private Lonsdale, who was afterwards condemned 
to life-long imprisonment, is quite in accordance with 
German court-martial traditions. 

There is yet another section of the Kaiser's army 
to consider — des Offizierskorps, The author's 
earliest acquaintances among the elite of German 
society were four lieutenants in the Chevauleger 
Regiment, stationed at Nuremberg. These were 
among the first Teutons from whom he heard how 
deeply Germany hated England. He heard for the 
first time (1902) that during the Boer War the 
officers of a certain English regiment had destroyed 
the Kaiser's portrait in their mess-room. Such an 
insult to Mfiserm Kaiser^ he was told, could only be 
wiped out by rivers of English blood. 

It has already been pointed out that between com- 
mon soldiers, one-year-men, and N.C.O.'s, there are 
three distinct gulfs which are not intended to be 
bridged over (military discipline), but these three 
classes are separated from commissioned officers by 
the supreme gulf. 

It is an error to suppose that all German officers 
come from aristocratic families; in reality the offi- 



1U THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

cers' corps is a medley crowd. The discretionary 
powers of the colonel prevent the mess-rooms of 
the famous regiments from pollution by any bour- 
geois element; but the majority of junior officers in 
infantry regiments are the sons of lower middle- 
class families. After obtaining a captaincy — 
average age 40 to 45 — these men are pensioned; 
higher commands are nearly all reserved for the sons 
of ancient families. Yet there are two classes of 
men who never become officers in the full sense of 
the word, i.e., Jews and N.C.O.'s. 

In 1870 some of the latter received commissions 
for bravery, but at the conclusion of hostilities were 
pensioned. A Jew has never been honoured with 
the Offizierspatent, although he may become reserve 
officer. Even then he may only hope for appoint- 
ment in the Train (siege artillery). 

Officers have a good average education, and hav- 
ing donned the Kaiserrock, must consider themselves 
beings apart from, and superior to, das Civil, After 
leaving a State Secondary School an intending officer 
completes his education at a cadet school. In due 
course he is attached to a regiment as ensign 
(Fdhnrich) and finally blossoms into a lieutenant. 
Der hunte Rock (the gay coat) is able to cover many 
things, but it gives no protection to military ineffi- 
ciency. It is the supreme exterior of German life, 
where exteriors flourish in abundance; it is the most 
sacred fetish which commands the worship of Ger- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 125 

man hearts. The person within it may be a cadet or 
a gentleman; that is a point of minor importance. 
The law protects it from all criticism, for it is the 
very symbol of Kaiserdom. 

A newspaper editor in Bamberg, Bavaria, pub- 
lished an article early in 19 14, entitled der gross e 
Herr (the grand gentleman) , in which he pilloried 
the swaggering presumption of officers — he was 
sentenced to six months' imprisonment. 

The German hostess is more gracious to officer 
guests receiving 3s. 6d, per day than to merchant 
princes possessing huge incomes. A dazzling lieu- 
tenant is of greater importance than the burgomaster 
of a great city. The latter may walk through the 
streets unrecognized, but every policeman, tram- 
conductor, post or railway official salutes an officer. 
If a company of soldiers meets a newly-fledged lieu- 
tenant, an order rings out and they swing past with 
the Paradeschritt.^ 

Tradespeople who wish to impress a new customer 
whisper reverently that " die Herren Offiziere kaufen 
bei uns ein " (" The Mr. Officers deal here ") ; the 
restaurant proprietor is proud to mention the fact 
that officers eat on his premises, and the coffee-house 

^The parade-step (so-called goose-step) is employed as a salute 
or at reviews when marching past the saluting point. The men 
spend weeks in acquiring this perfection of mechanical movement. 
In November it is a familiar scene when passing a barracks to 
see squads of men under N.C.O.'s practising it singly. A march- 
past in full uniform is an imposing sight in the Fatherland, The 
Paradeschritt is the Kaiser's contribution to military science. 



126 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

owner boasts that officers drink his coffee. It is 
quite superfluous for the restaurant-host to impart 
this information ; other guests may find it out by pain- 
ful experience when the waiters have neglected their 
orders a few times in order to give the uniform pride 
of place. On all occasions, at all times, the officer's 
uniform is in the front rank, and with very few ex- 
ceptions it is in the very first place. 

At Court every one who has the faintest right to 
a uniform of any kind appears in it; the Kaiser views 
civilian attire with severe displeasure — a prejudice 
to which American ambassadors have not yet yielded. 
No public function is ever held but the officers of 
regiments must be invited. If an invitation were 
not sent it would be deemed an affront and petty 
reprisals resorted to; even on speech-days in the 
State Secondary Schools der hunte Rock is in evi- 
dence, and the writer has observed officers from the 
local regiments peacefully sleeping during the annual 
address delivered by the Vice-Chancellor of Erlan- 
gen University. 

The uniform has such a hold on the popular 
imagination that Germans feel there is a lack of 
solemnity and official sanction if das Ofjizierskorps is 
not represented where men meet together with any 
serious purpose — whether it be to enjoy municipal 
bounty or to hear learned discourses on Bible re- 
search. Indeed, if the supreme fetish of German 
exteriors is not before their eyes, they feel like the 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 12T 

ancient Jews In the absence of the Ark of the 
Covenant. 

Nevertheless, it would be Idle to deny certain 
good qualities which make German officers welcome, 
often charming guests In German drawing-rooms. 
Above all he possesses the surface polish of the 
dancing-master. He bows with awe-inspiring defer- 
ence; kisses a lady's hand when greeting her; his 
deportment Is above criticism and yet his uniform 
may cover a multitude of sins. Nothing matters so 
long as he is " correct " and efficient In his profes- 
sion. As a German once said to the writer: " We 
want officers, not gentlemen," and this sentence aptly 
expresses the national attitude. They are Instru- 
ments of military discipline, but at the same time are 
subject to It themselves. Towards subordinates 
they are openly brutal, but In the presence of su- 
periors, es wird gehuckt und geduckt (endless bow- 
ing and scraping) . They may violate civilian rights 
with considerable impunity, but any Infringement of 
army laws would lead to condign punishment. 

In the street or public places the officer swaggers 
-. with overbearing condescension towards the lower 
' orders of society, and is ever-ready to resent or 
revenge any conduct In another person which he 
believes to be derogatory to his own dignity — the 
Kaiser's honour. The most trifling provocation on 
the part of a civilian Is sufficient cause for his swor^ 
to leap from Its scabbard. 



128 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Some years ago (about 1905) a lieutenant was 
marching through the streets of Nuremberg at the 
head of a company of infantry. A number of street 
urchins amused themselves by marching in step and 
other youthful antics, which aroused the ire of this 
gallant son of Mars. The lieutenant drev/ his sword 
and cut open one of the offender's heads. A court- 
martial decided that he had only struck to protect the 
army from ridicule and sentenced him to a few days' 
arrest. The people murmured, the Press reported 
the case without comment, while the Pulpit main- 
tained a discreet silence. There is no shorter route 
to the inside of a German prison than to ridicule or 
criticize the great fetish. 

According to German Ideals an officer stands for 
all that is noble, brave and elegant. Among the 
better classes his privileges are looked upon as merely 
his due. Professor Delbriick, the successor to 
Treitschke, concludes an essay ^ on German officers 
with these words : " Any considerable material 
preference to officers has not been proved. The 
social superiority which distinguishes our officers is 
the necessary result of their character. If any one 
Is jealous of this. It can only be from vanity or 
Inability to understand the whole matter." The 
writer willingly admits the " social superiority," but 
declines to believe that the noble character of Ger- 

^ " Historiche und politische Aufsatze," by Dr. Hans Delbriick, 
p. 334- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 129 

many's super-supermen has won them the distinction. 
On the other hand, he is convinced that the respect 
they enjoy is obtained and maintained by the mailed 
fist, supported by the courts-martial. As a class they 
lack true chivalry, which is the key-note of charac- 
ter. The record of their dealings with German 
women is unclean in the extreme, while the treatment 
of unarmed civilians is a shameless betrayal of justice 
and humanity. 

They enjoy great privileges, possess extensive dis» 
cretionary powers, but do not feel the responsibility 
which such power should inspire; it only feeds the 
fires of vanity and innate conceit; they are '* oiled 
and curled Assyrian bulls." Officers' circles are the 
most exclusive and at the same time the most cor- 
rupt.''^ Everything which officers do is superior 
{vornehm) ^ that which they do not countenance is 
taboo — - including football. 

A conflict with an officer is something to be 
avoided, and a civilian prefers to overlook an affront 
rather than have an open quarrel. Should an officer 
feel that he has been insulted, he must immediately 
report the incident to his commanding officer, who 
lays the matter before a court of honour. The court 
decides whether an apology will suffice, or whether 
an appeal to pistols must follow; at the latter game 

"^ The description of life in the German army presented in Lieu- 
tenant Bilse's book, " In einer kleinen Garnison," does not exagr 
gerate the reality. 



130 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

It is evident that a civilian runs more risk of receiv- 
ing than giving a mortal wound. 

By these refined methods the educated classes are 
held in thrall, but the means of dealing with the man 
in corduroys are more precise, even frankly brutal. 
A workman who dared to show any disrespect to an 
officer might expect to be cut down forthwith. In 
19 10 the writer had a long conversation with Gen- 
eral von Rotenhan, formerly commander of the 
Nuremberg district. The question of officers mak- 
ing use of the sword was under discussion. 

A hypothetical case was cited. If a drunken man 
began a dispute with an officer or made himself 
obnoxious so as to cause a quarrel ending in the man 
abusing the officer, what ought the officer to do 
according to the military code ? Without hesitating 
the general answered, '' Mit der Waffe auf ihn 
losgehen I " (" Go for him with his sword ") . The 
writer endeavoured to make the English point of 
view clear, that it is neither gentlemanly nor " fair 
play " for an armed man to use his weapons against 
an unarmed opponent. This the general admitted 
was sehr schon (very nice), but it was not the code 
of German officers, and added that if an officer failed 
to use his sword effectively against a civilian who had 
shown him (i.e., the Kaiser) disrespect, he would be 
forced to resign his Offizierspatent (commission). 

English people were amazed at the famous Zabern 
incident, but to the majority of Germans the action 
of the officer was logical and correct. Lieutenant 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 131 

Forster believed that the lame cobbler was going to 
strike him, therefore he struck first. For this heroic 
deed a civil court condemned him to six weeks' im- 
prisonment; unfortunately such a sentence has no 
effect till a military court confirms It. Before a 
court-martial Lieutenant Forster could feel compara- 
tively safe, for his judges may be comrades, and in 
the worst case members of the same caste, deter- 
mined to protect the uniform at any cost. The ex- 
pected really happened, for the charge against 
Forster was dismissed and the matter ended. 

Colonel von Reuter, the commanding officer in 
Zabern, was also court-martialled for having ordered 
his men to fire on the civilian population before the 
civil authorities had called for military intervention. 
He too was exonerated, and the Crown Prince con- 
gratulated him by telegraphing the word " Bravo! " 

Professor Delbriick, commenting on the case in 
his review, "das preussische Jahrbuch " (1913), 
wrote : " Lieutenant Forster has been acquitted by 
the military court. The plea of putative self- 
defence was accepted, and the extension of this idea 
can endanger the life of any citizen who gets into a 
quarrel with a soldier. Colonel von Reuter was also 
acquitted because it was assumed that he acted in 
good faith; further, he believed his measures to be 
necessary, as the civil powers were helpless." Ergo 
— If an officer commits an error involving the loss 
of civilian lives, a plea of good faith is sufficient to 
excuse the murder, and as a consolation to the 



132 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

wounded feelings of the murderer he receives the 
hearty congratulations of the second man in the 
German Empire. 

In concluding his article Delbriick writes : " Both 
the officers ought to have been sentenced and then 
pardoned by the Kaiser. The military power is so 
great and dangerous that civilians must necessarily 
have protection against Its misuse. On the other 
hand, the army and State security require that under 
certain circumstances use may be made>of the weapon 
without the intervention of the civil authorities. It 
is hardly possible to decide by legislation where this 
right begins. It would be easier if public opinion 
had unlimited confidence in the military courts.'' 

No quotation In this work better Illustrates Ger- 
man sophistry than these few sentences from Berlin 
University's professor of history. Yet the proposal 
to fulfil the letter of the law by convicting the culprits 
and then to violate the spirit of justice by giving 
them a free pardon is genuinely German. Delbriick 
knows his public, and is fully aware that if only the 
form is observed, it will endure any wrong or flagrant 
injustice. Germans worship exteriors and these alone. 

For over eight months the world has seen Ger- 
many's vast military mechanism in motion. So far as 
a mere civilian can judge, the machine has developed 
all the efficiency which was expected of it. The bru- 
tal methods and atrocities have surprised only those 
who did not know Germany and the Germans. It is 
none the less deplorable that the German nation ha^ 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 13S 

made her army the be-all and end-all of national 
existence — deplorable for herself and the world. 

Still, In their present state of development, Ger- 
man citizens are admirably suited to military pur* 
poses. They love discipline, and the spectacular 
side of militarism appeals irresistibly to their warlike 
Instincts. At the present moment the writer has In 
his mind's eye an old German professor who could 
not sit at his study table when a company of soldiers 
marched past his house. Militarism flows In every 
German's blood; the children prefer playing soldiers 
to any other game. Souvenirs of barrack life are 
cherished In every home. The old men are mem- 
bers of Kriegervereine, V eteranenvereine ^ or some 
other society where old soldiers drink their beer on 
Saturday evenings and discuss reminiscences of army 
life. When a member of such a society dies, his 
comrades accompany him with music to his last 
resting-place, the club banner Is waved three times 
over his coffin In token of farewell, and amid the fir- 
ing of miniature cannon he sinks Into his narrow cell. 

Militarism is to the German mind a great, heroic 
science; the consummation of human greatness, de- 
mand and worthy of every sacrifice — even life itself. 
In return for his sacrifices the German has oppres- 
sion in the place of freedom, shams and baubles for 
realities. But, all In all, he Is content with his bar- 
gain, which goes to show that the whole system is 
suitable to, and possible In, his stage of civilization.^ 
8 For Crime Statistics of the German Army, 'vide Appendix I. 




CHAPTER VII 

THE GERMS OF AGGRESSION FROM KANT TO 
NIETZSCHE 

^UARRELSOME aggressiveness is innate in 
German character, a statement amply proved 
by her history and her modern everyday hfe. The 
robber knights of medieval times afford ample evi- 
dence of uncompromising hate and love of destruc- 
tion,^ virtues which the process of the centuries has 
only succeeded in diverting into other channels. 

The very development of the twenty-odd German 
States, which have been united and dissolved, 
grouped and regrouped till Bismarck succeeded in 
1 87 1 in founding the conglomerate Germanic Em- 
pire of to-day, all goes to illustrate the truculent 
aggression of the Teutonic race; brute force being 
always the determining factor. 

After the Reformation had established itself in 
Northern Europe there was none of the Protestant 
States where so much bitter abusive polemic followed 
as was the case for a century In Germany before the 
Thirty Years' War, while In no other land did the 
religious disputes lead to so cruel and bloody a strug- 

1 The robber knights of the Middle Ages illustrate admirably 
Nietzschean principles of the superman. 

134 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 135 

gle as that which tore Germany from end to end 
during the period i6i 8-1648. 

Even in the twentieth century the two great camps 
of the Christian church are still alertly " on guard " 
and view each other's successes in the political world 
with undisguised envy and intolerance. The same 
intriguing continues to place Protestant or Catholic 
into the headships of State Secondary Schools, 
mayorships and all other public appointments from 
chimney-sweep ^ to cabinet minister. Promotion in 
the public services depends largely on the man's re- 
ligion, i.e., whether his faith coincides with that of 
the powers-that-be in his district and province. 

That the German State is aware of the intolerance 
and quarrelsome vindictiveness which characterize 
its constituent units is evident in the punishments 
meted out in the Penal Code for all sorts of ridiculous 
offences, which every other civilized power ignores, 
leaving them to the common sense of the majority 
and the feelings of decency in a nation. These 
virtues are the result of growth, not legislation, and 
the mere fact that police rules are necessary to pro- 
cure ordinary tolerant behaviour among the vast 
masses of the nation is sufficient comment on Ger- 
many's culture. 

We find a fund of humour in the grumpy indi- 
vidual occupying the corner seat who insists on the 

2 Sweeps are appointed to each rural district by the Towa 
Council. Men, when applying, must answer the eternal question, 
** What is your religion ? " 



136 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

window being kept shut. The German State deco- 
rates Its railway carriages with notices which anni- 
hilate " the man In the corner.'* A simple regulation 
states that no window may be opened unless every- 
body In the carriage Is agreed. Considering that 
each German third class carriage contains about six 
open, connected compartments seating about fifty 
persons, an idea may be formed of the impossibility 
of persuading so many Teutons to agree on so small 
a point, yet one and all will give unquestioning 
obedience to the police rule on the wall. 

Order, peace and discipline are all obtained from 
without — seldom from within the individual's 
breast. But the authorities know that this is the only 
means by which the railway carriage is preserved from 
scenes of bloodthirsty conflicts such as so often occur 
in the freer atmosphere of German beer-gardens. 

Statistics given on another page show that in spite 
of the policeman's heavy heel nearly three hundred 
thousand quarrels more or less violent have to be 
arranged by German courts of justice annually. The 
average German only respects other people's rights 
and susceptibilities just so far as the law, plus the 
policeman's sword and revolver, compels him to do 
so. He is ever on the qui vive to assert himself 
{sich geltend machen) ^ and more often than not col- 
lides with another, who is out on the same mission 
of culture. 

In spite of police laws and a systematized penal 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 13T 

code of so many numbered paragraphs, forbidding 
everything from crime down to offences against 
good form, Germany is still the classic land of the 
" freed ego." German philosophy has various 
clumsy epithets to define this license, such as das 
befreite Ich, das losgerissene Ich.^ Immanuel Kant 
is the apostle of this deliverance ; the whole trend of 
his system is the freeing of the human mind, or ego, 
from the trammels of tradition and custom. 

Above all, the homage demanded by and paid to 
traditional religion, cramped the ego, therefore it is 
inimical to true intellectual progress. Kant taught, 
and his doctrine finds general acceptance in educated 
Germany, that mental growth during preceding ages 
had been along wrong lines. 

The suzerainty of the Church had warped, con- 
fined and misdirected the development of human 
thought, wherefore a new beginning must be made, 
tradition broken with, and the intellectual spark led 
back to its true course as the entirely independent, 
delivered, critical ego. 

One contemporary, the philosopher of sentiment, 
F. H. Jacobi, bemoaned the fact that Kant had only 
permitted the world to consist of ego, while another, 
the heroic Fichte, gladly seized upon this subjective 
idealism and built upon it his " Wissenschaftslehre '* 
{1794). As the philosopher of liberty he recog- 

3 The "delivered ego" or "the ego torn loose." Terms which 
came into vogue during the early part of the last century. 



138 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

nized not " being " but only " doing " — action. In 
his system he endeavours to explain everything from 
the development of the ego, while all else is mere 
nature (Nicht-Ich) or non-ego. The boldness and 
moral force with which he laid down these principles 
were not without effect on his Jena pupils, while 
without doubt Schelling's natural and Hegel's mental 
philosophy both grew out of Fichte's " Wissen- 
schaftslehre." During Schelling's Jena period all 
his work was an endeavour to prove the identity of 
mind and nature (Ich and Nicht-Ich) . 

The whole of the Romantic movement in Germany 
occupied itself with the problem of the ego — prin- 
cipally its pathological phenomena. It is instructive 
too, that of all English writers in the nineteenth 
century, no other appealed so forcibly to the German 
mind, and no other holds a higher place to-day in the 
estimation of modern Germany than Lord Byron 
with his morbid egoism. 

It was left, however, to a layman to propound 
further the licence of egoism.^ The writer in ques- 
tion is well known in modern Germany, but his name 
is seldom heard in England. Stirner was the first to 
claim, categorically, unlimited rights of self-assertion 
for the individual. He laughs to scorn the " thing " 
for itself; everything which, up till then, had been 
held sacred in religion, morality and justice he de- 

4"Der Emzelne und seln Eigenthum " ("The Individual and 
his Possessions"), by Max Stirner. Published at Leipzig, 1845. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 139 

clared to be idee fixe. One quotation from his work 
will suffice to illustrate his position, as a develop- 
ment of what had gone before and as a forerunner 
of his great successor, Friedrich Nietzsche. 

" Justice is a crack-brained idea, invented and 
foisted on to the world by a phantom. It is of no 
importance to me whether an action is just or unjust. 
If I am powerful enough to perform any deed what- 
soever, then eo ipso 1 am justified in doing it. I am 
empowered by myself and require no other author- 
ization or justification. Power! that am I alone. 
I am the mighty one, the possessor of power. Might 
and force exist only in me — the strong and mighty 
one." 

Here, in brief, we have the seed of Grossenwahn 
(swelled-head) — the peculiar form of diseased ego- 
ism from which the whole German nation suffers. 
This is the Leitmotif, which runs through the vast 
literature of German aggression, whether it advocates 
militarism, naval or colonial expansion, but above 
all in the special section proceeding from Pan-Ger- 
man authors. The author has before him a modern 
history of philosophy,^ which states Max Stirner's 
teachings in a concise form. 

" I alone am the creator of myself and all things. 
I do not trouble about anything; seeing that I am 

^ " Die Philosophic im zweiten Drittel des neunzehnten Jahrhun- 
derts," by Arthur Drews, Professor of Philosophy at the Technical 
University, Karlsruhe. Published in 19 13 at Leipzig. 



140 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

a perishable being, I am nothing and this is proved 
by my death. Seeing that everything is only my 
creation, I am the only one'' {der Einzige), "the 
only original and real being; then I am also the 
possessor of all things. The world is my property 
and as the * only one ' I have the right to do with it 
as I like, and use it according to my will. I am the 
sole standard and determiner of values, therefore 
all my decisions are made on purely egoistic grounds. 
Motives which are not egoistic are all idees fixes with 
which I have been unjustly inoculated during child- 
hood. Not only the conceptions of morality and 
God belong to the category of fixed ideas, but also 
those of the State, society, humanity, but above all 
the idea of truth or impersonal reason " {unperson- 
liche Vernunft) , " for there is only personal reason 
and that is embodied in me. Truth — co-called — 
is merely a creation of mine just as everything else. 
My world of thought is governed by me according 
to my taste, and is only the constant production or 
suspension of my thoughts. Feuerbach's ideal man 
is just another such phantom as the God of the ortho- 
dox; the idea of humanity and universal love is a last 
rest of the God-idea. He who sets up ideals or joins 
himself to any community whatever, is religious but 
not reasonable. He has, as Stirner expresses it, a 
crack-brained idea {Sparren) ^ 

" The individual has no other law than to live 
according to the dictates of his free will; that is the 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 141 

basis of Stirner's ' personalism/ From this point of 
view he has respect for nothing, neither for the ma- 
terial nor intellectual possessions of another, neither 
for his life nor that which the other holds sacred, — 
his religion, convictions, honour, etc. He does not 
shrink from perjury or even the vilest atrocities, if 
they gratify him or serve his well-being. Love, 
friendship and trust are all humbug. He rejects 
every kind of communism just as frankly as altruism. 
His personal anarchy and nihilism are only abstract 
possibihties which could not be realized in practice.'^ 

" In respect to theory he is a solecism pure and 
simple, although Stirner does not admit this, as he 
does not scruple to ascribe the same actuality to other 
egos. Egoism is the only logical attitude for the 
ego in regard to its originality and independence.'' 

" The philosophic value of Stirner's work consists 
in having asserted and defended this doctrine in 
detail. And no matter how disagreeable his brutal 
candour may be, it still remains true that Stirner, 
with his explanation of the motives of human action, 
Is throughout in the right." ^ 

It is instructive to note at this point that during 
the period in which Dickens, Kingsley, Tom Hood 
and their school were teaching humanitarianism, and 
England's foremost thinkers had Inscribed Jeremy 
Bentham's motto on their banner — "the greatest 
happiness to the greatest number " — German 

6 Professor Drews, on pages 24-5 of the work previously named. 



im THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

thought remained Introspective, occupying itself with 
itself, thereby missing the joy of life which found 
magnificent expression in other literatures. Ger- 
many was already committed to egoism, while Eng- 
land unfurled the banner of humanity; and this 
serves to illustrate the present writer's contention 
that the national ideals, bases of belief, motives of 
action accepted by the two nations are fundamentally 
different. 

Dickens, together with others of his school, have 
had both admirers and imitators in Germany; but 
in the whole range of German literature there is no 
writer who stands out as a supreme lover of human- 
ity. That literature contains no " Song of a Shirt,'* 
no '' Bridge of Sighs," nor even a " Cry of the Chil- 
dren." On the other hand, it contains innumerable 
outpourings of JVeltschmerz, Sturm und Drang, to- 
gether with the personal woes of a hundred Wer- 
thers. English romanticism merged into a humani- 
tarian movement — a joyous altruism, while Ger- 
many has never freed herself from the '' subjective 
idealism " introduced by the sage of Koenigsberg. 
All in all, German literature for more than a century 
has reflected little else but " self," and not satisfied 
with her own over-production, she has adopted the 
groans, moans and sighs of Byronism. 

But not only has Byron's morbid self-consciousness 
found a welcome in the German heart. Another 
and greater Englishman has been taken into the 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 143 

Teutonic bosom, viz., Charles Darwin. The 
" struggle for existence " and " survival of the 
fittest " in the economy of nature are principles which 
appeal irresistibly to the strife-instincts of German 
character. Yet German thinkers are wrong in tak- 
ing the struggle for existence — as it undoubtedly 
goes on in the natural world — and applying it in all 
its rude brutality to human affairs. They have en- 
tirely overlooked the greatest lesson of human his- 
tory, that progress has been in the direction towards 
the elimination of brute force as a court of appeal. 

The philosopher who has most influenced the 
imagination of modern Germany has been the one 
who taught that all differences must be settled, and 
all true progress achieved, by the methods in vogue 
among the monsters of antediluvian times. But in 
all this Friedrich Nietzsche overlooked the fact that 
his teaching is only an illustration of reversion to 
type. 

Nietzsche's ancestors had settled in Germany in 
the early part of the eighteenth century. It is 
alleged that his ancestor had at that time renounced 
his Polish title of Graf (Count) ; in any case, 
Nietzsche revealed unlimited pride in his noble 
origin — a pride which may be compared to Byron's 
pride of ancestry. He was born in 1845 ^^ Rocken, 
a village in the neighbourhood of Liitzen, but on 
the death of his father — a pastor in the Lutheran 
church — the family settled in Schulpforta, where 



14i4 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

young Nietzsche attended a classical schools He is 
said to have shown an antipathy to religion quite early 
in life, although Deussen relates that when Nietzsche 
was confirmed at the age of seventeen, he displayed 
a " holy mood " before and after the ceremony. 

Having obtained his Reifezeiignis ^ he spent a 
happy time in visiting the Rhine with his friend. 
This '' joyous journey " of wine and serenades led 
them to Bonn, where they entered their names as 
students at the university. In a moment of enthusi- 
asm he joined the students' corporation, Franconia, 
and went in for the usual duelling and beer-drinking 
of German university life. He seems, however, to 
have been disgusted with the atmosphere of brutality 
which characterizes these corporations, especially the 
Biermaterialismus , which induced him to sever his 
connection with the Franconia. 

Among his fellow-students he was considered a 
queer fellow (sonderbare Kauze) . During his 
twelve months in Bonn he composed music to Byron's 
" Manfred," a work which was not completed. On 
account of his short-sight Nietzsche hoped to be 
excused from military service — a hope which was 
not realized, for he passed and left the university in 
1867 to enter the 4th Field Artillery Regiment in 

'^ The sources of information concerning Nietzsche's life are lim- 
ited, the principal ones being: "Das Leben Friedrich Nietzsche's," 
v/ritten by his sister, Elisabeth Foerster; and a work written by 
his school and university friend, Deussen, who afterwards became 
professor of philosophy at Kiel University. 

s The certificate granted by German secondary schools which 
admits its owner to the university. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 145 

Naumburg. Only two months after joining the 
army, an accident in mounting a horse Incapacitated 
him for the remainder of his year's military service. 

In order to continue his academic studies, 
Nietzsche proceeded to Leipzig, and while preparing 
for his degree {doctor philosophic) received a most 
unexpected Invitation to the chair of classical philol- 
ogy In Bale University In 1869. A year later war 
broke out between France and Germany, and 
Nietzsche asked permission from the Swiss govern- 
ment to volunteer for active service; a request which 
was refused for reasons of neutrality, although the 
Swiss authorities allowed him to volunteer for 
ambulance work. After a period of training In 
Erlangen, he went to the battlefields of France and 
brought back wounded to Erlangen, only to become 
seriously 111 himself. From that time till his death 
Nietzsche was never free from Illness, which was the 
reason for resigning his professorship In 1879. 

At first his works do not seem to have attracted 
friends or to have raised him In public esteem, but 
the tide turned when George Brandes held a course 
of lectures on his philosophy at Copenhagen In 1888. 
Nietzsche was overjoyed to learn that the lecture-hall 
was zum Bersten voll of eager hearers. From that 
date he became a stock subject at all universities In 
German-speaking countries — a development whick 
met with criticism and condemnation ^ from healthy- 

^ Vide Nordau's work on " Entartungen " ("Reversions to 
type"), Vol. II., p. 360. "University teachers hold pass lectures 



146 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

minded men. Yet In spite of hostility in ecclesiasti- 
cal circles Nietzsche's epigrams and phrases became 
part and parcel of the popular language, though not 
always in their original sense. Such conceptions as 
those embodied in the terms superman and Herren^ 
moral fell on suitable soil. 

During a visit to Italy in 1889 he had a paralytic 
stroke in the streets of Turin, the beginning of the 
long-drawn-out end, which came eleven years later. 
But before the dark night of madness closed over his 
intellect for ever, Nietzsche was called upon to feel 
some of the gall and bitterness concealed in his own 
poisonous teachings. 

He writes: ^^ " Although I am in my forty-fifth 
year, and have published fifteen books (one of them 
a ne plus ultra — "Zarathustra ") , I am alone, ridicu- 
lously alone in Germany. There has not been a 
single moderately respectful review of even one of 
my books. Now they excuse me as being eccentric, 
pathological, mad. Evil and slanderous attacks are 
not lacking. A tone of unrestrained hostility pre- 
vails In the periodicals — learned and unlearned. 
But how is it, that no one ever protests against It? 
Nobody feels hurt, when I am abused. And for 
years no comfort, no drop of humanity — not a 
breath of love." 

on the verbiage of a madman. They deserve contempt for being 
unable to distinguish between clear, logical thinking, and the dis- 
connected imaginings of a raving maniac." 
10" Brief e," L, p. 496. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 14T 

There can be no doubt that Nietzsche identified 
himself more or less with his overman type: " If 
there are gods, how could I exist without being 
one ! " In the last months before Nemesis overtook 
him, he generally signed his letters either " Diony- 
sius " or '' The Crucified One." The pitiless one 
became only too truly the object of a very general 
and special pity. As if to complete the Irony of fate 
his death occurred on the anniversary of Christ's 
birth (December 25th, 1900). He was buried next 
to his parents in the little churchyard at Rocken — 
without any religious ceremony, and a Leipzig pro- 
fessor wrote in 1903 : " It was an inspiring moment 
when a young German student stepped to the grave^ 
side in order to utter a few touching words of thanks 
In the name of German youth." Another tribute 
may be found in the lectures on Nietzsche delivered 
at Strasbourg University by Professor Ziegler.^^ 

The latter's apology for Nietzsche's life and works 
Is the same that has been advanced in favour of Lord 
Byron — the absence of a stern father's influence 
during his formative years. Ziegler concludes his 
lectures with the words: *' His end is so sad and 
tragic that Hamlet's {sic) words come involuntarily 
to our lips : * Oh, what a noble mind is here o'er- 
thrown!'" 

Nietzsche's teaching of the will to power is a 

ii"Fnedrich Nietzsche," by Dr. T. Ziegler, Professor of Phi- 
losophy in Strasbourg University. 



148 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

doctrine composed almost mechanically by mixing 
together the doctrines of Darwin and Schopenhauer. 
The will is derived from the latter, the struggle from 
the former — only not as a struggle for existence. 
Darwin had the past, Nietzsche the future of man- 
kind in his mind. According to the one, man has 
evolved from the monkey, and from man the other 
seeks to evolve the Uebermensch.^^ At least three 
interpretations of the idea are possible, viz. : ( i ) 
a higher species; (2) a new nobility; (3) the peer- 
less genius. In " Zarathustra " the prevailing idea 
is that of a higher species; gods evolved from men. 
Nietzsche employs the term Gottmensch occasionally, 
instead of Uehermensch; but in a later work, " Anti- 
christ,'' he writes : " Man is the end of the chain. 
The problem which I present herewith, is not what 
t)eing shall spring from mankind in evolutionary suc- 
cession, but which type of man we ought to select; 
ought to will as the higher, more desirable, more 
future-certain." Here the conception is still human, 
but in " Zarathustra " the superman is more than 

12 Nietzsche did not originate the term Uehermensch or overman. 

It had already been employed by Goethe, and probably before him. 

The following lines from Faust show that Goethe was familiar 

with the conception: 

" Und was der ganzen Menschhelt zugethellt 1st, 
Will ich in meinem Innern Selbst genlessen, 
Mit meinem Geist das Hochst und Tiefste greifen, 
Ihr Wohl und Weh auf meinen Busen haufen, 
Und so mein elgen Selbst zu ihrem Selbst erweltern, 
Und wie sie selbst, am End auch ich zerscheitern." 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 14^ 

human, Indeed, he is a sort of Darwinian phophecy. 

Whatever the Interpretation, however, Nietzsche 
does not seek to eliminate the weak, the crowd. 
They arouse his contempt; the only justification for 
their existence Is that they are necessary for the 
strong. The supermen create their own morality 
by willing It; their power by self-assertion. They 
determine what is good — noble, lofty and powerful 
in contrast to bad — cowardly and common. 
Thereby they have only to think of themselves, and 
of others only In so far as the masses serve their 
ends. Thus his moral philosophy is anti-altruistic^ 
indeed a morality of self, a veritable self-cult. In 
opposition to sophists and priests, who in all times 
have played havoc with " self-breeding " {Selb- 
stzucht), Nietzsche proclaims egoism to be salva* 
tlon, and blesses the doctrine of inconsiderate self- 
assertion. He declares that " an altruistic morality 
In which the ego and its self-selection Is restrained, 
Is In any case an evil, blighting morality and a bad 
symptom for the times In which it prevails." 

English morality was and Is utilitarian, not for the 
profit of the Individual ego, however, but for the 
welfare of the totality, '' the greatest happiness of 
the greatest number," or, as Professor Ziegler writes, 
" English morality has been altruistic throughout "; 
a system which Nietzsche described as " slave-moral- 
ity," or one in which the Interests of the commonalty 
are considered and protected, or, to use the Darwin* 



150 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Ian term, " selected." There Is no morality for all, 
says Nietzsche; it serves either the slaves {i.e., the 
masses) or the masters — the supermen. There- 
fore down with English utilitarianism, which is slave 
morality; the chosen ones, the noble and powerful, 
must force their will upon all, and accomplish them- 
selves. In a word, that Is Herrenmoral, the moral- 
ity which permits the superman every license In 
asserting himself, incidentally sacrificing all other 
individuals and their rights to further his " selection." 
The overman is Nietzsche's idea of the fittest, and 
his *' superman morality," the system and process of 
selection best calculated to produce that type. 
Herrenmoral is egoism, Sklavenmoral Is altruism. 

From these premises It Is easy to see why Nietzsche 
was an Inveterate enemy to Christianity. Christ's 
fundamental teachings are based upon " Thy will be 
done," while the mad philosopher proclaims " my 
will at all costs." The Son of Man sacrificed him- 
self for the world, but the superman may sacrifice the 
world for his good. Christianity is self-abnegation, 
Nietzscheanism, self-assertion and glorification. 
Nietzsche's most violent gibes at Christianity were In- 
spired by what he deemed to be its will-laming influ- 
ence — Its anti-egoism. How far this poison has 
permeated modern Germany will be seen In other 
chapters on German life and institutions, but in this 
place It Is desirable to state Nietzsche's attitude to 
woman — the weaker. She serves no higher mission 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 151 

than that of a plaything for, and a breeder of the 
superman. In " Zarathustra " he writes: "A 
man of depth can only think of women in an oriental 
manner, as a piece of goods which he can put under 
lock and key." Or in another place: "You are 
going among women? Then do not forget to take 
a whip." 

His opinion of war at the present moment is not 
without interest. " It is idle dreaming to expect 
much, or anything at all from mankind, when they 
have forgotten how to make war. For the present 
we know no other means by which drowsy, decaying 
nations can be effectively aroused, except by those 
found in the rude energy of the battlefield; that deep 
Impersonal hate; that cold-blooded murdering with 
a clear conscience; that common, organized, passion- 
ate joy In the annihilation of the enemy; that proud 
Indifference to great losses, to one's own existence 
and that of one's friends; that deep earthquake-like 
shock to the soul which every great war produces. 
Just such a highly cultured, and therefore of a neces- 
sity, languid people, as that of modern Europe, re- 
quires not only wars, but the greatest and most awful 
of wars — that is to say occasional lapses into bar- 
barism — in order that they may not lose their cul- 
ture and existence, in the means of culture." 

Besides the published sources for Nietzsche's 
biography there is another unpublished one. Dur- 
ing his lifetime the philosopher wrote an autobiog- 



152 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

raphy entitled " Ecce Homo " ; his sister has pub- 
lished a private edition of it, but no copies are 
available. An excellent review of it appeared in 
*' Das preussische Jahrbuch " for 1909. Nietzsche 
repeatedly exclaimed: "When * Ecce Homo' is 
published, I shall be the greatest man in the world! " 
The work in question is a record of disease egoism. 
Its reviewer was evidently no admirer of Nietzsche, 
for he states that in " Ecce Homo " its author lies 
himself up to the level of deity. Nietzsche believed 
in the reahty of his ideal " Zarathustra," and under 
a strong inclination to self-deification the last mask 
falls away, the " sovereign ego " breaks through the 
last restraining instincts and lives under the dictates 
of free will. In no measured terms the reviewer 
condemns Nietzsche to oblivion, at the same time 
admitting his teachings to be poison of the worst 
kind. " But is such an anarchist, who lies himself 
upwards to be a god, a teacher of humanity? 
Among all the thousands of his readers are there 
even three, who are capable of distilling any good 
from such destructive explosives ? ' Ecce Homo ' 
will cause many to open their eyes, who up till now 
have kept them closed in devout worship." 




CHAPTER VIII 

TREITSCHKE PROPHET AND HISTORIAN 

lETZSCHE alone could never have become 
the inspirer of Germany's national effort to 
obtain world domination; his teachings would prob- 
ably have worked towards disintegration, unless some 
other force had neutralized them or his theories had 
received a more general application. The man des- 
tined to raise Nietzsche's individual aggression to a 
higher plane, thereby making its practice an interna- 
tional danger, was likewise of foreign extraction. 
Heinrich von Treitschke was descended from a 
Czech family which settled in Germany during the 
second half of the seventeenth century, and his con- 
temporaries bear witness that his facial type and 
physical temperament were quite Slavonic even after 
the lapse of two centuries. 

Treitschke ^ was born at Dresden in 1834. As a 
schoolboy and youth he displayed considerable ability 
as well as personality. His father was an officer, 
and the hope was cherished that young Treitschke 
would also choose a military career — a hope shat- 

1 " Erinnerungen an Heinrich von Treitschke," by Adolf Haus- 
rath. This work is an enthusiastic but non-critical example of 
hero-worship. 

153 



154< THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

tered by lifelong deafness resulting from a severe ill- 
ness during his boyhood. 

In 1849 he witnessed the bloodshed consequent 
upon the " revolt of Dresden," but there is little to 
record of his early years except that on leaving the 
classical school his certificate bore testimony to high 
attainments, especially in history. 

The first twelve months as a student were spent 
In Bonn, and it is noteworthy that Treitschke felt no 
attraction to the students' corporations ; their colossal 
achievements in beer-drinking, which so often de- 
generated into free fights, disgusted him. On ac- 
count of his deafness he attended few university 
lectures, but devoted himself with great zeal to pri- 
vate study. 

It Is characteristic of German university life that 
the student very rarely stays for several years at one 
university. After one or more terms he receives his 
ex-matriculation certificate, and, following his bent, 
passes on to another university. Thus none of Ger- 
many's famous men belong to one university In the 
sense that Oxford or Cambridge can claim many of 
England's great men. A German's alma mater Is 
that particular university where he took his degree; 
In many cases he has not put In a single term there. 
Hence Treitschke's name is associated with Bonn, 
Leipzig, Tubingen and Heidelberg. At the last- 
named he took his doctorate; there, too, he came Into 
conflict with a students' corporation — the Saxo- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 155 

Borussen — which ended in two challenges and one 
duel. 

In another chapter the bullying methods of Ger- 
man corps-students and their hostile contempt for 
non-incorporated students (Obscuranten) is de- 
scribed at length. 

One evening Treitschke found himself surrounded 
by a number of young fellows from the above-named 
society. Doubtless they hoped to humiliate him for 
his well-known antipathy to them. In the altercation 
one of them dubbed Treitschke ein diimmer lunge 
(a silly young fellow). He immediately demanded 
satisfaction with pistols. The meeting took place, 
but passed off without bloodshed; the authorities, 
however, heard of the affair, and the Senate gave 
Treitschke eight days in Karzer ^ for issuing a chal- 
lenge to fight with pistols. Nothing was said about 
the duel having taken place, a delinquency for which 
neither combatant was punished. Shortly after- 
wards Treitschke obtained his degree, together with 
his leaving certificate. 

It is customary for the university registrar to enter 
all breaches of academic discipline and their punish- 
ments on the leaving certificate or Ex-Matrikel, 
Accordingly on that of Treitschke a record of his two 
challenges and eight days' confinement was made, 
but it is an error to state that he was " sent down " 
for these offences.^ If German students were " sent 

2 Students' slang for university prison. 

3 Mr. Joseph McCabe, in his work on Treitschke, is responsible 



156 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

down " for such everyday affairs — although no 
longer with pistols — then some forty per cent, of 
the academic youth would be compelled to find new 
paths in life. 

Before completing his twenty-first year the future 
historian returned to his parental home as a doctor, 
philosophic in 1855. Still he had no fixed plans for 
the future; his fiery, combative nature impelled him 
to a military career — a path closed to him by his 
affliction. Irresolution and constant change dis- 
tinguish the years 1855 ^^ 1866, when he finally 
became a Bismarckian. 

The ideal of German unity had already become 
an obsession, an ideal which has the present writer's 
entire sympathy. Treitschke had already written 
and spoken on this theme. A youthful poem ex- 
pressed a passionate desire to see that unity founded 
by the sword, a prophecy fulfilled in 1871. Curi- 
ously enough, his surroundings for some years were 
not those in which one would expect an apostle of 
German unity to find either inspiration or support. 
Certainly Treitschke found little enough of the latter 
either in Goettingen (Hannover) or Leipzig 
(Saxony) . The rulers of the smaller German States 
were, for reasons of self-preservation, bitterly hostile 
to these ideas; yet for ten years Prussia's future 

for this statement. A full account of these incidents may be found 
in Theodor Schiemann's " Heinrich von Treitschke's Lehr und 
Wanderjahre." 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 157 

glorifier lived and taught Prussianism in the small 
States. 

At Goettingen (1856) Treitschke devoted himself 
to poetry, but his virile cast of mind ultimately led 
him in 1857 ^^ settle at Leipzig University, where 
he hoped paternal interest would enable him to obtain 
a professorship. For a year he worked hard on a 
question of social science, submitted the essay, which 
was approved by the Faculty, and with the permission 
of the Saxon Government he was granted the venia 
legendiy or the right to hold academic lectures. 

His liberal and Prussian leanings soon became evi- 
dent, giving the authorities considerable concern. In 
1859 ^^s father warned him that the Minister for 
Education, among other members of the Government, 
had expressed opinions which boded ill for the young 
lecturer. The elder Treitschke warned him that no 
one ought to accept a post in the service of the State 
unless he accepted the State as it is. In reply his 
son stated the doctrine of akademische Lehrfreiheit,^ 
a defence which apparently satisfied the father. 
Notwithstanding this warning Treitschke continued 
to Prussianize ; yet the outcome clearly proves that no 
German State tolerates a professor whose teachings 
are contrary to its wishes and interests. 

At this period Treitschke's hostility to small 
States grew rapidly. His objection to them was that 
they are weak and therefore lacking that power which 

4 Dealt with on page 48. 



158 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

is the first and only justification for a Staters exist- 
ence. This hatred, at first, was doubtless aroused 
against Bavaria, Saxony, Hannover, etc., because they 
prevented the realization of his political dream — 
the union of the German peoples under one ruler, a 
German Kaiser; later this became an irreconcilable 
antagonism to smaller States on principle. 

No wonder the Saxon authorities looked askance 
at him, for the academic youth caught his enthusiasm 
and flocked to his lectures. He moved from one 
auditorium to another till the largest lecturing hall in 
Leipzig University could not accommodate his eager 
hearers. The crisis soon came; a remark made in 
one of his lectures to the effect that it was to be 
regretted, that Saxony had not been added to Prussia 
in 1 8 15, led to an open breach. Practically he was 
asked to go on, and as Treitschke had intended for 
some time past to write a history of the German Con- 
federation, he now announced his intention of devot- 
ing himself for a time to research work. The stu- 
dents signed a petition begging him to remain; his 
father wrote that, " after being a Saxon general for 
fifty years he was deeply wounded at his son becoming 
an apostle of Prussia." 

He withdrew to Munich, where he applied his fiery 
spirit with unbounded enthusiasm to the history al- 
ready referred to. In a few years Treitschke re- 
turned to Leipzig, but recognized the hopelessness 
of ever again teaching in a Saxon university. An 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 159 

fnvitation to Freiburg University (Baden) in 1864 
was accepted, but the pettiness prevailing there, both 
socially and academically, made a most uncongenial 
atmosphere. 

During his Freiburg period he obtained Bismarck's 
permission to consult the Prussian State archives, an 
incident which led to the great Statesman offering 
him employment in Prussia. But Treitschke held 
other views on internal policy than Bismarck, hence, 
in spite of their mutual passion for German unity, 
Treitschke returned to Baden in 1866. There he 
became engaged to his future wife, Emma von Bod- 
mann ; while celebrating this event he was compelled 
to flee. 

Baden threw in its lot with Austria in the war of 
1866 and Treitschke's life was no longer safe in 
Freiburg. He returned to Berlin, but this time being 
without a position he was glad to accept Bismarck's 
offer of a post in Kiel University. From this year 
onward his Liberal leanings rapidly weakened, till 
as Bismarck's henchman his opinions became as Con- 
servative as his Prussian masters could desire. 

The absorption of Schleswig-Holstein by Prus- 
sia was a step thoroughly in accordance with his po- 
litical creed and probably inspired his work, " The 
Future of the North German States" (1866). 
Therein he pleaded for their complete annexation 
by Prussia. Regardless of his father's official posi- 
tion in Saxony, he furiously attacked the Saxon royal 



160 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

house, which caused an open breach between himself 
and his parent. A reconclhation followed, however, 
shortly before the elder Treitschke's death in 1867. 

From Kiel, Treitschke was removed to Heidel- 
berg, where he finally established his reputation as 
an historian and publicist. One of his colleagues 
and later biographer (Adolf Hausrath) describes 
him at this period as being tall and thin, fiery and 
energetic. Blessed with the gift of eloquence, he 
captured the hearts of his students, fired their Imagin- 
ations with his ideals, and when war broke out with 
France raised their enthusiasm to white heat. 

As his deafness prevented him from hearing the 
bell which signalled the end of the lectures, Treit- 
schke always requested a student In the front row 
to give him a sign to stop. But so much were they 
under the spell of his eloquence, that the signal was 
seldom given and the lecturer often exceeded his 
time by half an hour. 

His advice to student-soldiers proceeding to the 
front in 1870, " Conquer at all costs," betrays the 
intense emotion with which he followed the struggle. 
Victory and the founding of the German Empire 
brought him — the Kaiserherold — real joy.^ 

During 1871 he was elected to the Reichstag and 
remained a member till 1888. In spite of having 

s Bavaria retained special privileges with regard to peculiarly 
Bavarian questions — a fact which disgusted Treitschke not a 
little. He had hoped for a clean sweep and suspected Bismarck 
of weakness in this respect. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 161 

learned the deaf-and-dumb speech he was obliged 
to sit at the Press table in order to follow the de- 
bates by reading the reporters' shorthand notes. 
His popularity and influence were now secure, so 
that his removal to the chair of history in Berlin 
(1874) was only the natural fulfilment of long- cher- 
ished expectations. There young Germany flocked 
to hear him, as if his were the voice of a prophet 
and oracle. 

In those days women were not admitted to Ger- 
man universities, or only as hearers by the grace of 
the professor. Treitschke refused to permit ladies 
In his lectures on any consideration. 

He had no sympathy for the Jews or Social 
Democracy; both In speeches and pamphlets he at- 
tacked the former and received some drastic replies 
from the oppressed race. His attitude to the latter 
Is comprehensible because the rise of German De- 
mocracy — the fourth estate — seemed to threaten, 
his beloved ideals of Statecraft. " Treitschke 
viewed the movement from the point of view — 
of a man, of the whole of the nation, of the State 
and of the authority of the Crown. At every one 
of these points he felt himself hurt by the disorderly 
revolt of one class, by its International and anti-na- 
tional declamations. He had always placed the 
State above Society, and now a portion of the latter 
wanted to violate the former in its own Interests. 
The semi-education and presumption of the fourth. 



162 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

estate and its agitators seemed to him a danger to 
the civilization of his country." ^ 

Treitschke was an aristocrat of personality and 
intellect. He had never been a Liberal in the full 
party meaning of the word, and in 1879 he left the 
National Liberals to Identify himself entirely with 
Bismarck's party. His Influence In parliament, 
though not so all-compelling as in the university, was 
powerful and his speeches commanded a respectful 
hearing. In religious matters he declared himself 
to be a free-thinker, yet there are evidences that his 
attitude changed considerably in later life. 

Up to this point the real source of his influence 
has only been briefly mentioned; now It requires to 
be dealt with more exhaustively. In avowing the 
cause of German unity he voiced a yearning which 
had slumbered in Germany's heart for many years. 
Treitschke preached union, Bismarck realized it; 
both were, in a striking sense, men of the hour. 
They were the men who compelled a great move- 
ment, hitherto formless and helpless, Into a con- 
crete, tangible shape. Bismarck was the Statesman, 
Treitschke the Prophet. His message was a burn- 
ing gospel, a consuming fire of nationalism. 
Through him Germany's past appeared In new col- 
ours and her future was filled with new hopes. 

In his historical method Treitschke was no pio- 
neer; on the other hand in glorifying his country's 

*"Heinrich von Treitschke," by Erich Marcks, 1906. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 163 

past he did nothing new. His history was intended 
to cover the years 1815 up to his own time; as a 
matter of fact he only got down to the year 1848. 
Volume I appeared in 1879 and the fifth in 1894, 
two years before his death. During those years it 
was looked upon as the greatest contribution to Ger- 
man literature of the period. In the introduction he 
deals with German history from 1648 to 18 15, then 
plunges into his subject, which is Prussian-German 
development up to Empire. Everything which had 
furthered this aim he seized upon and celebrated, 
while all that hindered the ideal he unhesitatingly 
condemned. Yet the work is not a history of the 
Prussian people in the sense of Green's " History 
of the English People," but rather a glorification of 
Prussia's ruling house, the Hohenzollerns. 

He intended the work to be more than a mere 
record of facts; it was to educate German nation- 
alism, and be an instrument for agitation and prop- 
aganda. Within these limits Treitschlce's history 
achieved complete success. Moreover, there is 
nothing deserving of censure in cultivating German 
national spirit or singing praises of her past to a 
German public. The unlawful and harmful is to 
be found in what seemed to Treitschke and his school 
the next logical development. World-wide praise 
of Germany's struggle for unity has long since ex- 
pressed the approval of humanity on that high en- 
deavour. But success and victory were to Treit- 



164 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

schke the harbingers of a still greater event. A 
united Germany is destined to become a world Ger- 
many. That is the essence of his message, preached 
with all the force of a fiery, compelling personality, 
and the generation to which he delivered it, intoxi- 
cated with national victory, lent him their willing ears. 

Just as he had admonished his students in 1870 
** to conquer at all costs," so now he taught the Ger- 
man nation to achieve world-domination at all costs 
and by any means. The Prussian State had be- 
come the German Empire, which in its turn was to 
be the ** Super-State " of the earth. 

The development of this dream coincides to a 
great extent with the growth of Treitschke's hate 
for England. He would have been dull indeed had 
he not perceived that this country was the greatest 
obstacle to the realization of his hopes. 

"In German naval expansion (1884) Treitschke 
saw some of his own ideas taken up, and his hatred 
for England — which he had once loved and ad- 
mired, and which at one period of his life had meant 
so much to him — became a part of his blood, as was 
the case with many others of the 1870 generation. 

" Disparagement of England and her power, hate 
of English national egotism became dogmas, and he 
did much to impregnate German public opinion with 
them."^ 

A striking passage from Treitschke's own pen 

"^ Erich Marcks' " Heinrich von Treitschke," p. 55. A lecture 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 165 

will best show his attitude to this country. It is 
taken from " Zehn Jahre Deutscher Kampfe '' 
("Ten Years of German Struggles"), p. 172, 
*' No matter how highly one may think of British 
freedom, it is an indisputable fact that modern Eng- 
land is a reactionary power among the community 
of nations. Her world power is an obvious an- 
achronism. It was founded in those good old 
times, when world-wars were won by naval battles 
and hired bands of mercenaries; when it was consid- 
ered Statecraft to rob and accumulate well-situated 
naval fortresses and coaling stations in all the lands 
of the earth, thereby brutally ignoring their nature 
and history. In this century of great national States 
and national armies, such a cosmopolitan commercial 
power cannot permanently maintain itself. The 
time will and must come when Gibraltar will belong 
to Spain, Malta to Italy, Heligoland to Germany, 
and so on. It can easily happen that when England 
feels her vital interests to be in danger, she will once 
more amaze the world by a display of determined 
bravery. But the outlook of her Statesmen has be- 
come so absolutely narrow, and their world-view 
{W eltanschauung) just as grandfatherly in its limi- 
tations and musty conservatism, as was once the 
policy of the decaying Netherlands. Too rich, sur- 

on Treitschke in honour of the tenth anniversary of his death. The 
lecture was delivered in all parts of Germany and published at 
Heidelberg in the same year, 1906. 



166 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

felted, vulnerable at a hundred places in their vast 
possessions, the British feel that they have nothing 
more to wish for in the wide world. Further, they 
knoY/ that they have no weapons with which they 
could contend against the young and great powers 
of this century, except the played-out forces of a by- 
gone age. Modern England is the shameless rep- 
resentative of barbarism in international law. It is 
her guilt, that naval warfare still bears — to the 
outrage of humanity — the character of privileged 
robbery. It was her opposition at the Brussels Con- 
gress which thwarted Germany's and Russia's pro- 
posals to limit the horrors of land wars. She was 
the screaming, but, thank God, cowardly advocate 
of Danish rights in Schleswig-Holstein. And after 
all these heaped-up examples of her incapacity, and 
In face of the narrow prejudices prevailing in British 
Statecraft, are we Germans to look up to that coun- 
try as the noble-minded defender of international 
freedom and the European balance of power? " 

Many similar attacks may be found scattered 
throughout Treitschke's writings, especially in 
** Die Politik." Readers acquainted with the habit- 
ual caution which German professors exercise when 
committing themselves to print can easily conceive 
how much more inflammatory Treitschke's declama- 
tions before his students must have been. German 
strength and efficiency contrasted with England's 
alleged decay and weakness made it an easy task 
to conclude that Germany was in the natural course 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 16T 

of events destined to dispossess the effete '* robber " 
and rejuvenate the world. 

Amid English surroundings, to some it may still 
be incomprehensible how these doctrines could have 
permeated a great nation. Above all it is necessary 
to understand that Trietschke captured the intellec- 
tuals of his day; his chair of history in Berlin was 
only one of many from which his teachings were 
being spread; his pupils soon occupied his and all 
other chairs of history in German universities. 

Apart from the spread of Treitschkean Ideas by 
means of the press and platform, it Is easy to show 
that practically every educated German has come 
under his Influence In the school. Before a teacher 
is appointed in a State school, he must have studied 
at a university, a regulation which applies equally 
to teachers of history. It Is not in the least extraor- 
dinary that the most bitter enemies to England have 
always been the professors In German schools and 
universities. Professors and masters in the schools 
have Imbibed their hostility at the university — the 
chief source. 

In 191 1 there were over three hundred thousand 
German boys between the ages of ten and twenty in 
the State Secondary Schools and two hundred and 
twelve thousand pupils In Secondary Schools for 
Girls. Taking into consideration that Treitschke's 
gospel of a world Germany was promulgated forty 
years ago, It is easy to Imagine that In this gen- 
eration there are exceedingly few who, at some 



168 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

period or other, have not come under his influence. 

In spite of the demonstrable weakness under- 
lying the presumption that England is decayed and 
weak, while Germany is strong and efficient, it is 
easy to explain why the idea has received a national 
welcome. German character is peculiarly prone to 
envy and susceptible to flattery. England's mighty 
past and splendid present fed the fires of Teutonic 
envy. Simultaneously the prophecy of a world- 
compelling Germany flattered the nation. It never 
occurred to Treltschke that only that system which 
best meets the needs and satisfies the longings of the 
human ego can hope for general acceptance by hu- 
manity. 

Comparing the systems of the two States it may 
be proved conclusively, that Germany has not 
evolved higher Ideals of freedom, justice and honour 
than the accepted English standards of these prin- 
ciples. Treltschke knew better than most Germans 
that in those qualities and principles which make for 
the emancipation of the human race, England sur- 
passes the best which Germany can offer. Hence 
he declares what we consider really valuable for cul- 
ture to be " English cant," '' sentimental utilitarian- 
ism," " ideals of the Manchester school," and con- 
signs them to the International dust-heap. In their 
place, as we shall see in the next chapter, he offers 
mankind a stone for bread. In the form of idealized 
brute force, which, according to his gospel, is the 
great civilizer and emancipator of the world. 



CHAPTER IX 

treitschke's state and its morality 

NIETZSCHE held the Individual to be the 
centre of all things, and according to the 
evolutionary doctrine concerning the " struggle for 
existence " which produces the " fittest," Neitzsche 
claimed unlimited licence for the individual who 
takes part in the battle of life. From the point of 
view of the individual, Treitschke's teachings are a 
complete negation of Neitzsche; he denies to the 
individual every right and liberty, except those ac- 
cruing to him in and through the State. But just 
those claims which the philosopher made for the in- 
dividual, the historian claims for his deified State, 
which is, in reality, merely a magnified ego. Ac- 
cording to Treitschke the individual exists only to 
promote the welfare of the State; in return the lat- 
ter protects him or sacrifices him in warfare. 

The author of " Die Politik " ^ expressly states 
that the man must not be employed as an instru- 

1 " Die Politik " is a work in two volumes, containing roughly 
nine hundred pages. It was not written by Treitschke, but con- 
tains his lectures delivered in Berlin University, as collected from 
students' notebooks by M. Cornlcellus. It was published In 1897, 
one year after Treitschke's death. " Die Politik " contains Treit- 
schke's teachings concerning the State and Statecraft. 

169 



170 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

ment, and supports his contention by quoting Kant, 
but flatly contradicts his own doctrine in at least 
two different passages.^ " The State does not, on 
principle, ask what is the individual's opinion, but 
it demands obedience. Its laws must be observed, 
whether willingly or unwillingly." " It would be 
vain presumption on the part of the individual if 
the State were to be considered a means for attain- 
ing the ends of its citizens. On the other hand the 
individual must subordinate himself to it, while in 
return the State interferes {eingreifen) in the life 
of the citizens in a protective and benevolent sense." 
Hence the evidences of Nietzsche's influence will be 
found in the lives of Germans as individuals, and that 
of Treitschke in the national life, in Germany's re- 
lations as a State to other States, and in her own 
internal government. Yet both these writers were 
apostles of aggression in one of two forms, the 
former individual, and the latter collective aggres- 
sion. 

Treitschke devotes many pages to the definition 
of a State. " It is a lawfully united people exist- 
ing as an independent power;" or: *' the State is 
the public power organized for defence and defi- 
ance; " again: " it is the sum total of all the individ- 
ual wills of a people." ^ But the fundamental idea 
underlying his varying terms is always power. 

2 " Die PoHtik," Vol. I., pp. 32, 68. 
^Ibid. I., p. 27. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 171 

Treitschke looked upon the State as the embodiment 
of the strength of all its units; the gathering up into 
itself of the national forces is the end and aim of the 
State, i.e., the State itself is its own end and aim. 
Hence Power is the first principle of the State; its 
being is Will. Here Nietzsche's doctrine for the 
individual — the will to power — finds its parallel 
on an infinitely greater scale. 

The question may be raised as to what the State 
is In actual life, for the definitions are by no means 
clear on the point. The State is no more nor less 
than the crowned head, the military power, and the 
bureaucracy, or in reality the monarch and the few 
score men who conceive and direct the policy of the 
country. 

All impulses come from above, that is, the will 
of this small " real State " Is imposed upon the 
masses forming the community. No German ever 
identifies himself with the State; the "man In the 
street " speaks of it either with awe or dislike. He 
is fully aware that he can exercise no influence upon 
its deliberations, but under certain conditions der 
Staat can dispose of his body, soul and chattels. 

On the whole, Germans have unbounded confi- 
dence in the State, and this trust is based upon solid 
experience, for the State led them to victory in 1870, 
and since that time has organized the military, naval, 
commercial, economic and intellectual forces of the 
country in a manner never before attained in the his- 



172 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

tory of the world. Therein lies a great danger be- 
cause the resulting power possesses a momentum not 
under the control of the nation. A coterie develops 
the national strength and has unlimited rights In de- 
termining the object for which It shall be employed. 

The present war Is a striking Instance — If such 
were necessary — of this Treltschkean doctrine and 
Its application. During the period July 25th to 
July 31st, 19 14, the German State made Its final 
preparations for war; on August ist a declaration 
of war was made upon Russia and four days later 
the Reichstag met to give Its consent. On that oc- 
casion the Kaiser's theatrical demonstration to pro- 
cure complete unity among the various parties was 
a very cheap recompense for ignoring the human 
right of a nation to decide in a question concerning 
its destiny. The national representatives were met 
with un fait accompli — war ! — and no other course 
was open to them than to give It their unqualified 
support. All subsequent utterances of the Em- 
peror and his spokesmen protesting that Germans 
are fighting for their homes and national existence, 
fall under the category of State deceptions. It Is 
obvious that Germany is now fighting to protect 
hearth and home, including everything which Ger- 
mans hold dear, but the imperial advocates omit 
the vital point, that the German State voluntarily 
placed these national goods at stake when there was 
no cogent reason for doing so. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 173 

The root of the German menace lies not so much 
In the chauvinistic propaganda which has been car- 
ried on in that country, but that one or two men had 
the power to set the machine going; when the 
mechanism is in motion the State holds the reins and 
can prevent questions or opposition of any kind. 

Probably the greatest piece of cynicism which 
Bismarck imposed upon Germany and the world is 
German suffrage. Every man on attaining his 
twenty-fifth year has a vote for imperial representa- 
tion. There are no property qualifications, no plur- 
ality of votes, no residence or income restrictions ^ ; 
yet the Reichstag has actually no power In determin-. 
ing questions of national destiny; it Is just as effec- 
tive as a first-class debating society. 

In theory the German Parliament has the power 
to vote supplies; should the popular representatives 
refuse " financial aid " then, according to the con- 
stitution, the Kaiser possesses power similar to 
Charles the First's claims In regard to ship-money. 
A " national emergency " would result which invests 
^ the monarch, chosen by God, with unlimited powers. 
Such a dead-lock actually occurred In the Austrian 
Empire during March, 19 14. The Austrian Reich- 
stag refused a vote for the army and was immedi- 
ately adjourned. Under paragraph fourteen ^ of 

* A court of law can deprive a man of his civic rights for a 
period of years for a criminal act. 

^ The author was in Vienna at the time and is quoting from 
memory what he read in Austrian papers. 



174« THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

the Constitution the Emperor Franz Joseph signed 
the necessary documents, and the taxes became legal 
without parliamentary consent. 

In Berlin everything is done by intrigue and 
wheedling to obtain a majority In support of the 
State's proposals so as to avoid a popular crisis — 
to preserve the farce of popular government; but 
the fact remains that neither the Kaiser nor his min- 
isters {i.e,, the real State) are responsible to the 
nation as represented in the German Reichstag. 

Within the last decade a leading Conservative ex- 
pressed the opinion that the Kaiser had the right 
to send a lieutenant and a squad of soldiers to close 
the Reichstag at any moment. In spite of the out- 
cry which his statement evoked, that represents ex- 
actly the Kaiser's constitutional powers, and it would 
be futile to argue that the majority of the nation 
does not give either tacit or expressed consent to 
these conditions. 

German Liberals would immediately answer any 
interrogation on the point: — "We prefer, in the 
last resort, to be in the hands of the Emperor rather 
than fall victims to Social Democracy, which would 
hold the reins of power under any system of repre- 
sentative government." In England we are accus- 
tomed to depute — under potent restrictions — na- 
tional affairs to the conduct of the national represent- 
atives, who are responsible for their proper execu- 
tion; it cannot be too often emphasized that these 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 175 

conditions do not prevail in Germany. There the 
Parliament has not the power to decide for peace 
or war; it has not the power to ratify treaties or to 
cultivate friendship with other powers. In the light 
of these facts it is interesting to consider the utter- 
ances of German peace delegates in this country 
and in their own home. 

Whenever representatives of Germany's Parlia- 
ment or Church have pledged German friendship 
and benevolence, they have promised something over 
which they could evercise no determining power.^ 
Unfortunately an undiscerning section of the British 
public accepted these effusions at their face value in- 
stead of regarding them as equal in worth to the 
*' small-talk " with which a diligent employee fills up 
the intervals in conversation with a customer with 
whom he is doing business. 

Whatever bitterness we may feel against Germany 
at the present time, should not bhnd us to the fact 
that German State organization is a wonderful 
method for getting the last ounce out of every citizen. 
Germany, before the war, might have been very 
aptly compared to a huge bee-hive. The deplorable 
side is, however, that the accumulated wealth and 
national strength can be turned into any channel 

® If Mr. A. concludes a business arrangement with Mr. B.'s 
shop-assistant, English law frees Mr. B. from the fulfilment of 
the contract. In the case of the German State, the latter recog- 
nizes no promises made by its citizens, and further reserves to 
itself the right, to keep or break obligations contracted by itself. 



176 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

which the ruling coterie may choose, without previ- 
ously consulting the national will. Such power 
should never be at the disposition of one man or 
even a few, especially when these men admit respon- 
sibility to no earthly power. Treitschke insists 
upon '' the absolute independence of the State from 
every other power on earth." 

The German people could only call the State to 
account by a revolution, an event of exceeding im- 
probability. If the Allies are unable by force o£ 
arms to compel that State to recognize its respon- 
sibility, then certainly no other earthly power may 
hope to achieve that object for many generations to 
come ; but that aim having been once attained, it be- 
hoves England never again to rely upon Mr. Keir 
Hardie's nod to bring the German State to a sense 
of the responsibility which its enormous power should 
inspire. 

It may be that after Germany's navy and army 
have been broken, the German people will emanci- 
pate themselves from the yoke of autocracy; such an 
emancipation is, acording to Treitschke, mere an- 
archy. He writes:'^ " If the State can no longer 
carry out what it wills, then it founders amid an- 
archy." For this eventuality he is also prepared. 
*' When faced by ruin, we extol the State which suc- 
cumbs sword in hand." ^ It must be noted, how- 

7 " Die Politik," I., p. 28. 

8 Ihid, I., p. 100. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 177 

ever, that Poland's downfall — to cite only one in- 
stance — sword In hand, has aroused little admira- 
tion among Germans, and the same may be safely 
assumed with regard to Belgium. Treitschke hin> 
self designates Poland's fight for nationality and 
freedom, as "mad-brained stubbornness" {hirnver- 
hrannte Verstocktheit) . 

Having seen that the State is identical with power 
{i.e., armaments), we will examine Treitschke's 
raison d'etre for organized force. " The protec- 
tion of its citizens by force of arms Is the first and 
fundamental duty of the State." '' The State which 
has no right of arms {Wafenrecht) is no longer a 
State In any sense of the word. It Is essential to a 
State that It have the power to accomplish its will by 
physical force. Without arms the effectiveness of 
the State's will Is absolutely impossible." ^ In reply 
to this argument, one of Treitschke's opponents ^^ 
quotes England as a refutation. Pfarrer Umfrid 
writes: "The army in England Is only an exterior, 
a dependent factor in English life, yet the State Is 
able to exist." 

Treitschke, in his perverse desire to recognize 
power as the supreme virtue, overlooks the question 
" In whose hands shall this power be placed? " It 
seems to him a matter of Indifference who controls 

»'Die PoHtik," IL, p. 322. 

10 " Anti-Treitschke," by O. Umfrid, Lutheran pastor in Stutt- 
gart. Practically the only voice — a rather insignificant one — 
which has been raised against Treitschke's barbarous theories. 



178 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

it, or for what end it shall be employed. Accord- 
ing to him only one use is immoral — the defence of 
another country ; from which it follows that the Eng- 
lish State in defending Belgium is committing a 
highly immoral act! Nevertheless he stigmatizes 
England " cowardly " for not having taken up arms 
in defence of Schleswig-Holstein.^^ (It may well 
be asked whether Treitschke was really capable of 
logical thought, he condemns a brave-immoral action 
equally with a cowardly-moral one ! ) Without dis- 
cussing the point in more detail, it may at once be 
pointed out, that Treitschke's plea for the State to 
be identical with power, is because he recognizes 
might as right. There is one qualification, how- 
ever, even to this principle, but Treitschke is careful 
not to state it. Might is right only when the might 
IS at the disposition of the German State. Should 
England, for example, possess the power and deign 
to exercise it against Germany, then that power is 
no longer right — it becomes immoral bullying. 

We have already seen that Treitschke's State 
recognizes no earthly power, and the preservation 
of this supreme independence is another justifica- 
tion for the might of the State. " In order to pre- 
serve this independence the State must possess such 
an abundance of armaments (Machtmittel) that they 
suffice to protect it against foreign influences." In 
fact he finds the inalienable essence of a State's sov- 

i^Fide p. i66. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 17^ 

ereignty to be In force of arms.^^ The State whose 
sovereignty Is guaranteed by the weapons of another 
State Is not a State at all. 

Thus In so many words Treltschke rules the small 
State out of court. In another place he Is still more 
explicit: ^^ "Further the State must possess suffi- 
cient material power to be able to maintain by force 
the Independence which exists on paper." Belgium 
not possessing these material forces, consequently, 
has no right to exist as a State, and In due course the 
same applies to Holland and Switzerland. Not In 
vain have Germans been charged with a lack of 
humour, otherwise Treltschke and his compatriots 
would have seen what this principle Involves. In ef- 
fect it means that every man has the right to appro- 
priate his neighbour's household gods, unless his 
neighbour Is stronger than he and able to defend 
them with sword and pistol. From the German 
point of view this latter conclusion would be false, 
because It is an application to the details of life of 
principles which Treltschke evolved as a part of his 
world-view {JVeltanschauung) . 

It Is hardly necessary to ask Treitschke's opinion 
on the next duty of the State ; Its first duty is to pos- 
sess power, logically the second must be to use It. 
*' The second essential function of the State is the 
waging of war. That the world has failed to recog- 

12 "Die Polltik," II., p. 322. 

13 Ihid. I., p. 41. 



180 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

nize this before is a proof of how unmanly State- 
craft had become In the hands of mere laymen. In 
our century, since Clausewitz, this sentimental inter- 
pretation has disappeared. A one-sided material- 
istic doctrine has sprung up in its place, which after 
the manner of the Manchester school, regards man 
as a two-legged being whose destiny is to be bought 
as cheaply, and sold as dearly as possible. That 
this conception is hostile to the idea of war, is ob- 
vious; only after the experiences of recent wars 
(1866 and 1870) has a healthy opinion of the State 
and its military power begun gradually to make itself 
evident. Without war there would be no States at 
all. All States known to us have arisen through 
war. Hence war will last to the end of history, so 
long as there is a plurality of States. That it could 
ever become otherwise, it is impossible to deduce 
either from the laws of logic or from human na- 
ture, neither is it in any way to be desired." ^^ 

Granting Treitschke's definition of the Manches- 
ter school, then it is difficult to see that a man's lot 
in the shambles of a battlefield Is better or higher 
than if he is bought and sold by modern " material- 
ists. '* In the latter case the man's right to live is 
admitted, while according to Treltschke he has no 
such right, although it is hard to believe that the Al- 
mighty brought his creatures Into being merely to 
satisfy Treitschke's demand for cannon fodder. 

14 " Die Politik," I., p. 72. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 181 

Here again we touch bed-rock In German sentiment 
— the indifference to human life. 

The writer has known hundreds of Germans who 
would put themselves to endless trouble and no little 
expense to feed our feathered friends during the 
severe continental winter, yet these same men would 
consider it an honour to shoot a man at twenty paces 
over some trifling difference arising in dally life. 
Germans have not yet dreamed of the " sacredness 
of human life." This is a phrase remarkable by its 
absence from their language and literature. At- 
tempted suicide Is no crime in Germany; the man 
who kills his opponent in a duel is no criminal, either 
In the eyes of the law or in public opinion — It Is 
even possible that the latter will acclaim him a hero. 
His offence may lead to a sentence of " two years' 
fortress arrest," but after six weeks or two months 
a benevolent monarch generally pardons him.^^ 

German law protects property more stringently 
than human life — the latter costs nothing. For 
arson a man may get six to ten years' penal servi- 
tude, but if he follows his enemy home from the beer- 
house and stabs him to death, the criminal is seldom 
condemned to more than four years' imprisonment. 

15 In Metz a lieutenant seduced the wife of a comrade. The 
officers' Court of "Honour" (?) decided that a duel must be 
fought; the wronged man was slain with the first shot; his mur- 
derer was condemned to two years' imprisonment in a fortress. 
Two months later (May, 1914) the Kaiser pardoned and rein- 
stated him in the army. 



L 



18^ THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

In fact, four years is the average punishment for 
hundreds of these murders ("killing without in- 
tent'') every year. Among Bavarian ruffians this 
phrase is native : ^^ Der Kerl wird mich einmal vier 
Fahre kostenf '^ ("Sooner or later that fellow 
will cost me four years.") Before the courts this 
type of German hero pleads that he " has no knowl- 
edge of having committed the act," or he " was in 
such a rage, that he had lost control of himself, and 
cannot, therefore, be held responsible for his ac- 
tions." A German magistrate accepts all such pleas 
in good faith, he takes into account the man's temper- 
ament, together with dozens of other vague consider- 
ations — with the above result. But if a drunken 
man should rave insults against H. M. the Kaiser, 
he will undoubtedly send him to prison for the long- 
est term which the law allows. 

Treitschke euphemistically calls war a " national 
law-suit," and declares that " when existing condi- 
tions no longer correspond to the proportion of rela- 
tive strengths, if the State cannot prevail upon its 
neighbour to yield by peaceful means, then the na- 
tional law-suit commences — war." ^^ 

Just as Nietzsche considered weakness in the in- 
dividual a vice, so for Treitschke weakness in the 
State is a supreme sin — the sin against the Holy 
Ghost. War is the only remedy. " We may as- 
sert with certainty that war is the only cure for dis- 

16 "Die Politik," II., p. 552. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 183 

eased nations." ^^ *' A people which desires to rank 
among the powers must, from time to time, arouse 
and develop Its energies by war. This truth has 
been confirmed again and again that a people only 
becomes a nation through war." ^^ 

War Is, then, the great glorlfier of mankind, it 
founds and preserves nations (Incidentally It has de- 
stroyed them), without war there is no progress, 
only unmanly degeneration. Yet even Treltschke 
was not blind to war's horrors, although he immedi- 
ately transforms the horror to a virtue. " Having 
to overcome one's human feelings for the sake of 
the Fatherland is the horrible in v/ar, but in that lies 
its greatness." ^^ " Its sublime majesty consists just 
In this, that in war one murders without passion." ^^ 

Not content with justifying war by every argu- 
ment drawn from expediency and Inhumanity, Trelt- 
schke finally gives war divine sanction; on page 552, 
volume II., of " Die Politik," he writes that " war 
is one of God's ordinances." In another place he 
preaches the inevitability of v/ar because of human 
nature, the laws of logic and the plurality of States. 
Evidently feeling these causes to be insufficient In 
themselves, he announces that God wills it. Had 
Treltschke qualified his assertion by stating that 
" the German God ordains war," humanity would 
have had no difficulty in accepting his theory. A 

17 « Die Politik," I., p. 74. l^ Ibid. I., p. 60. i9 Ibid. II., p. 361. 

20 /^ii. I., p. 77. 



184 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

thousand years ago the brave, free man defended his 
cause, or avenged his private wrong, with his own 
strong arm. Doubtless he considered himself an in- 
strument of divine justice and his sword one of God's 
ordinances. To-day an individual of the same type 
and class must, nolens volens, submit his private 
wrongs to the adjudication of a law court. Human 
progress has tended to eliminate an appeal to force 
in differences between individuals. Noble knights 
and robber knights in the Middle Ages would prob- 
ably have declared forcibly and precisely, that such 
causes and quarrels as theirs would never in this 
world be settled by any other means than the sword; 
history and human development give them their 
answer. 

Treitschke, with his gospel of force, stands on ex- 
actly the same ground — internationally, of course 
— as a robber knight. He acclaims armaments the 
be-all and end-all of human existence; to him the 
means — at best a necessary evil — became the end, 
the only ideal worth pursuing. Applying this to the 
individual, we may well admire the art of self-defence 
within certain limits and even admonish our youth 
to attain proficiency in it, but the prophet whose mes- 
sage insisted that every man should subordinate all 
his earthly interests, and exert all his energies in or- 
der to become a Jack Johnson, would be rightly con- 
sidered a lunatic. That is, in its final result, the es- 
sence of Treitschke's message to nations. Unfor- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 185 

tunately Germany welcomed his as a prophet, the 
*' apostle of Germanism," and from that date Ger- 
many has made it her highest ideal to become a 
trained prize-fighter among the nations, with the re- 
sult that all her European neighbours have been com- 
pelled to imitate her or, according to Treitschke's 
doctrine, cease to exist. 

But Treitschke would belie his nationality If he 
overlooked details. His swashbuckler State must 
not be wanting in arrogance, must not forget to vaunt 
its virtues and strength in orations similar to those 
delivered by Homer's heroes on the eve of mortal 
combat. " Without the self-respect which is peculiar 
to a nation, the feeling of community would be lack- 
ing. Fichte says, quite truly, ' A nation cannot do 
without arrogance {Hochinut) y ^'^ *' Without 
over-estimating itself no nation can ever attain to full 
consciousness of Itself." ^^ In another passage: 
"It is a false conception of the moral laws of politics 
to charge the State with having too irritable a feel- 
ing of honour." Considering that " honour " Is the 
cause of every war — in Treitschke's opinion — • 
then the national conception of honour is all-impor- 
tant. " In reality war is never waged In order to 
protect the lives and goods of citizens, but for the 
sake of honour." ^^ (Contradicts his earlier asser- 
tion, p. 177.) In another chapter It has been shown. 

21 "Die Politik," I., p. 282. 
^^Ibid. I., p. 29. 
^^Ibid. I., p. 80. 



186 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

that the individual German's conception of personal 
honour is tainted with diseased egoism. The writer 
avers that the same applies to German national hon- 
our — it is based upon over-estimation and is su- 
premely supersensitive. 

Intercourse with natives of other countries is in 
no case so difficult as intercourse with Germans in 
Germany itself. In the shortest possible time a for- 
eigner in German society, either high or low, would 
hear the alleged weaknesses and faults of his nation 
discussed. Without fear of contradiction, the author 
asserts, that no other nation practises and takes the 
same joy in this petty game of pin-pricks to such an 
extent as Germans. They are too unrefined to per 
ceive the bad form, and to morbidly conceited to 
allow a victim to retort. 

A young Nuremberg lawyer, in recounting such a 
rencontre with an English lady resident, actually 
boasted to the writer that he had caused tears to 
flow. Only praise or flattery of everything German 
is permissible ; the man y/ho — on request — ex- 
pressed fair, dispassionate criticism became exceed- 
ingly unpopular. The report would be circulated, 
'^ fVie der iiher Deutschland und die Deutschen 
schimpftf '^ ("How he abuses Germany and the 
Germans.") All non-flattering opinions are classed 
as Schimpf (abuse), and all criticism of German 
policy by the journals of other lands falls under the 
head Hetzerei (stirring up strife). 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 187 

For some years past hardly a week has gone by 
but the writer has been informed by the German 
press, '^ die englische Zeitungen sind schon wieder 
hei der Hetzarbeit/^ (" the English papers are at it 
agam ) . 

Although the writer followed events in three Lon- 
don dailies (Standard, Daily Mail and Daily News) , 
he never found any criticisms of Germany which a 
healthy-minded non-conceited nation could not have 
read without anger. But he read in German papers 
only too frequently, bitter, vituperative attacks upon 
England and the English, such as a decent press 
and a cultured public could not tolerate in time of 
peace. Treitschke preached arrogance and conceit; 
Germany has made a fair attempt to monopolize 
them as her own peculiar virtues. Adolf Hausrath 
called Treitschke " the Prophet of the national 
cause." ^* 

Another writer, Count Freytag-Loringboren, Lt.- 
General commanding the 22nd Division, in his work 
entitled " War and Politics in Modern Times " 
(Berlin, 191 1), lauds Treitschke as '* the Apostle of 
Germanism." At this valuation we will accept him 
and sum up the apostle's gospel in the following 
form : The Hohenzollerns are the only earthly mon- 
archs possessing divine right. Germans are the 
chosen people in whose hands might is always right. 

a* Adolf Hausrath's "Biography of Treitschke," p. 109. 



188 THE sour OF GERMANY 

They are empowered by right of might to say wha^ 
they please of other peoples, and to treat them as the}!? 
^(the Germans) will. 



CHAPTER X 

MORE TREITSCHKIANA 

THE " national law-suit " having commenced, 
Treitschke is very explicit as to the manner in 
?svhich it must be waged; the object of war is, above 
all, to stab the enemy to the heart. 

War is not humanity or justice; there must be no 
sentimentalism to disfigure the " majesty of dispas- 
sionate murder." Villages and towns must be burnt 
down, for without such examples it is impossible to 
achieve anything. " It is not humanity, but out- 
rageous weakness if the German Empire in modern 
times does not act according to these principles.^ 

The publications of the Berlin General Staff afford 
ample proof that the German Empire has accepted 
this doctrine and the present war is an illustration of 
its practice. In the history of the Boer War pub- 
lished by the General Staff, specified charges of hu- 
manity are made against both Lord Roberts and 
Lord Kitchener. 

The tactics of the former at Paardeburg come 
in for special censure. It was an error for Lord 
Roberts to starve out Cronje and his four thousand 
Boers. The position should have been taken at the 

i"Die Politik," II., p. 565. 
189 



190 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

point of the bayonet and several thousand Boers 
slain. Such a lesson in cold steel and " f rightful- 
ness " would probably have shortened the Boer War 
by eighteen months. 

From the technical point of view this criticism may 
be justifiable, but in view of the consideration that 
English and Boers had to become fellow-citizensi 
after the war, the General Staff is wrong. More- 
over, had the English leaders followed German 
methods, it is questionable whether the Boers would 
have remained loyal during the present crisis. 

On one point Treitschke is more generous than his 
compatriots of our day. He permits the State to 
employ any and all troops at its disposal. " The 
right of a State to make use of all its fighting forces 
in war is indisputable, no matter whether they are 
barbarians or civilized men." 

On a small scale Germany has herself employed 
black troops and is doing so now, yet the advent of 
the Indian troops in the fighting line was the signal 
for an unprecedented outbreak of hate against Eng- 
land. Simplicissimus compared the British forces to 
a menagerie. A Nuremberg friend wrote to the 
author under the date Nov. 13th, 1914: — " To me 
it seems terribly barbarous on the part of England to 
let loose these wild tribes against our soldiers. And 
if the hatred for England has risen on that account 
to the highest pitch in our people, it is perfectly com- 
prehensible." 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 191 

Treitschke defines two states of war and lays down 
rules for the conduct of both. " In the midst of 
peace a condition of latent war may exist between two 
States." ^ During the last decade the " latent war " 
between England and Germany has been a never-end- 
ing topic of conversation in the Fatherland as well 
as a constant theme for articles in German reviews 
and newspapers. It became in fact part and parcel 
of every German's political creed. Under such con- 
ditions — according to Treitschke — the Statesman 
is permitted to take precautions before actual war- 
fare commences. " The State must make it a duty 
to employ traitors in the enemy State for its own in- 
terest. If a State makes use of its enemy's conspira- 
tors for its own ends, this is certainly permissible." ^ 
As Umfrid writes in commenting on this axiom, 
*' every kind of infamy is allowed by Treitschke." 
Justification for all the horrible crimes which Ger- 
many has committed in Belgium and France may be 
found in '' Die Politik." 

The Statesman who has lost the " national law- 
suit " will find little sympathy in that work. " A 
-^ Statesman has no right to warm his hands over the 
smoking ruins of his Fatherland and comfort himself 
with, ' I have never lied.' That is virtue for the 
monastery but not for Statecraft." * 

We have been surprised at German intrigues in 

2 "Die Politik," II., p. 562. ^ Ibid. IL, p. 560. 

^Ibid, L, p. no. 



19a THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Egypt, India and South Africa, and the naiVe sec- 
tion of the British pubhc, who believed German 
Statesmen's protestations of love and peace, have re- 
ceived a still ruder shock. Yet lying has always been 
the foundation stone of German policy. 

On August 1st, 1 9 14, the semi-official Cologne 
Gazette published a statement that Germany had no 
intention of violating Belgian territory. Martial 
law had been proclaimed one day before, which 
means that even if the article in question did not actu- 
ally originate in the German Foreign Office, it had 
at least been passed by the official censor. Before 
the acquisition of Kiau Chou, Germany assured the 
world that she had absolutely no intention of obtain- 
ing territorial aggrandizement. Yet when the 
treaty, leasing this portion of China to her had been 
signed, the Kaiser informed its negotiator, Prince 
Hohenlohe,^ by telegram that he had just emptied a 
glass of champagne to his health and congratulated 
him upon having extended Germany's dominions. 
The devious and tortuous paths of German State- 
craft would, however, be far less irritating, if Ger- 
many did not claim a monopoly of the innocence of 
the dove. The cunning of the serpent she possesses 
in a Machiavellian degree. 

Lying and spying go hand in hand; spying is an- 
other of the State's sacred duties. Englishmen who 
have suffered from the so-called " spymania " will 

^Hohenlohe's " Denkwiirdigkelten," Vol. II., p. 533. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 193 

not feel relieved at Treitschke's dictum, that " in 
modern national wars every good subject is a spy, 
therefore the expulsion of eighty thousand Germans 
from France in 1870 was a correct measure." 
Judging from what he has observed of the polite, 
prying German, in family, business and social life in 
Germany itself, the writer is inclined to believe 
Treitschke — if that writer intended his remarks to 
mean Germans — when he states that " every good 
[German] subject " is a latent, and when opportunity 
arises, an active spy. Germany's remarkable achieve- 
ments in the domain of spying should cause no as- 
tonishment to those who know Germany and German 
character. 

Returning to Treitschke's State there is still the 
question of treaty obligations to discuss. As the 
State recognizes no superior power on earth, it is 
evident that a binding treaty is something which it 
must regard with disfavour. " Every State for its 
own sake will limit its own sovereignty in certain re- 
spects. When States conclude treaties with one an- 
other, then their completeness as powers has been 
limited to a certain extent. 

" A State cannot bind its will for the future in 
regard to another State. The State has no higher 
judge above it and therefore it will always conclude 
treaties with this mental reservation. Every power 
has the right to declare war whenever it chooses, and 
as treaties are cancelled by a declaration of war, so 



194* THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

every State can get rid of its treaties. Every State 
must see to it, that its treaties remain vigorous and 
do not become obsolete, thereby inducing another 
power to end them by war. Treaties which no 
longer correspond to existing conditions must be de- 
• nounced and new ones, corresponding to the new 
order of things, must take their place. From these 
premises it follows that the establishment of an In- 
ternational Arbitration Court is incompatible with 
the nature of a State." ^ 

This is the " scrap of paper " doctrine in its most 
brutally frank form. A pledge may be given for 
the moment, but it is not binding for the morrow. 
,The State recognizes no higher power than itself, not 
even humanity. So long as it is profitable and con- 
venient to observe a treaty — that is the honour- 
able course; but when the same promise is unprofit- 
able, it is obsolete — and " honour " demands that 
it be broken. In other words profit, honour and ex- 
pediency are synonymous terms in Germany's code 
of morality. 

The root must again be sought in Treitschke's idea 
of power. Promises may be made, but Germany 
only intends to keep them so long as the other State 
is strong enough to compel her to do so by force. 
In August, 19 14, Germany probably believed that 
England was unable to protect Belgium's neutrality 
! — therefore in dishonouring her promise Germany 

« " Die Politik," L, pp. 37-8. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 195 

had the justice of might on her side. But it is still 
more Hkely that she believed England would be un- 
willing to defend her pledged word. Whichever 
supposition is right, the result remains the same — 
Germany did not possess the moral impulse (called 
honour) , which compels an individual or a nation to 
fulfil an obligation which was binding both morally 
and legally. 

Furthermore Germany broke her promise on prin- 
ciple, for it is one of the written laws in her code of 
Statecraft, that a treaty is only binding so long as the 
State wills it to be binding. A State does not exist 
in order to keep its promises to other States, or as 
Treitschke expresses himself: ''The State is not 
there in order to vaunt flags or for the clanking of 
spurs and scabbards, but its mission Is to force a way 
for justice on earth." Justice, however, does not 
mean treating your weaker neighbours with consider- 
ation or observing your written pledges to them. 
Nor can they make any claim, because they do not 
possess the might to enforce it. Justice is merely 
what might can accomplish. It is moral and just 
for Germany to crush Belgium because she has the 
power to do it. A way for justice has been forced 
through Belgium, and if Treitschke's yearnings 
should ever be realized a corresponding " path of 
justice " will be cut through Holland. His biog- 
rapher, Hausrath,*^ reports a conversation with 

■^ Hausrath's " Erinnerungen," p. ii8. 



196 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Treltschke about colonies. " Cameroons," ex- 
claimed Treltschke, " what do we want with that 
sand-heap ! Let us take Holland, and then we shall 
have some colonies." Hausrath remarks that it was 
a good thing Treitschke did not express such opinions 
In the press. But he did in his university lectures, as 
given in " Die Politik," L, p. ii8. *' Germany will 
be happy only when she possesses the whole of her 
river [the Rhine]. It must be the indispensable task 
of German policy to win back the mouth of that 
stream." In its essence this is precisely the advice 
which Jezebel gave to Ahab in regard to Naboth's 
vineyard, but it may well be doubted whether Hol- 
land's vineyard would give the German Ahab content- 
ment or happiness, while it is certain that its posses- 
sion would only be employed as a means to attack the 
next vineyard. When we consider Germany's un- 
precedented progress during the last forty years dis- 
passionately, we are forced to the conclusion that Ger- 
many has no reason to be dissatisfied with her na- 
tional lot, but an insatiable avarice such as that from 
which all Germany is suffering, could never lead a 
nation to peaceful contentment, even if Germany 
were mistress of the world. Its only cure is eradica- 
tion, by the same instrument with which she hoped to 
dominate Europe — viz., the sword. Treitschke's 
teachings could only have obtained their firm hold on 
the people, because of the innate predisposition to 
the exercise of brute force which lies in the national 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 197 

character, another essential constituent of which Is 
greed. In this soil the seeds of Treltschkeanism, or 
Ahabism, have developed Into a national gospel. 
For that reason a member of the German peace so- 
ciety ^ wrote In his book against him: — "If 
Treltschke had no apostles I would not quarrel with 
him. But as he has founded a school, and as his 
name Is shouted like a battle-cry from the opposing 
camp, he must be attacked. Treltschke Is the Ger- 
man historian who has dragged the Muse of history 
from her lofty throne on to the side of party, and 
of national aggression. It Is he who has given the 
halo of principle and justice to actually performed 
deeds of political violence." 

If Germany's deeds of political violence had led to 
peace and progress In those lands against which they 
were perpetrated, some justification might be pleaded 
in their defence. But those territories upon which 
Germany has Imposed her will are to-day the most 
discontented of all the domains under the rule of 
Kaiser Wllhelm II. Prussian Poland Is the foreign 
province which has been longest under the German 
heel, hence the most progress may be expected In 
that unfortunate land. Yet after a century the Poles 
are more national, more antl-PrussIan than at Its be- 
ginning. A hundred years of Germanlzatlon, de- 

s O. Umf rid, in his " Anti-Treitschke." This is the only protest 
against Treitschke which the author has been able to trace, but he 
could name a great many German works lauding Treitschke as 
Germany's apostle. 



198 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

f void of any element of reconciliation, pregnant with 
oppression and repression (efforts have been made 
to blot out even the Polish language), finds Poland 
as far as ever from accepting the German idea. 

Five years ago the Prussian Diet passed a measure 
by which Polish lands could be expropriated to the 
crown. Since that brutal act any Polish landowner, 
whose sympathies were not sufficiently Prussian, could 
be ejected — at a price fixed by royal commissioners 
! — and his lands divided into small holdings for the 
benefit of imported German peasants. Even this pro- 
cedure has failed to create a pro-Prussian populace 
in torn and tyrannized Poland. The colonizing- 
military German is himself a trained, drilled, human 
tiger, and h.e endeavours, by perfection of system, to 
force the inhabitants of conquered lands into the 
same m.ould; fortunately every branch of the human 
family does not fit into the Prussian mould. The 
system has too few human and humane elements ; it 
does not permit the individual to expand according 
to his nature, neither does it accord him even that 
degree of justice which is essential to build up a com- 
munity of healthy, happy, contented human beings. 
One German authority may be quoted to bear out 
these statements. Professor Delbriick held a course 
of lectures in Berlin University on Regierung und 
Volkswille (Government and the Will of the Peo- 
ple). In 1 9 14 he published them and is responsible 
for the information that Pohsh children are com- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 199 

pelled to learn German; Polish recruits as a pre- 
cautionary measure are divided among various regi- 
ments. According to Delbriick enormous sums have 
been spent in the expropriation of Polish estates and 
he admits that during the last twenty-five years no 
progress has been made in the work of pacification; 
on the contrary, the Poles are more anti-German than 
ever before. 

Treitschke's concept of domination Is best Illus- 
trated by the examples which he himself cites.^ In 
certain parts of Russia — LIvland, Kurland and 
Esnia — the nobility are of German origin — con- 
querors In previous centuries. These supermen 
have kept the people up till 1865, when slavery 
{Leiheigenschaft) was abolished, In a state of bar- 
barism In order that the few could govern the man]^ 
That system of colonization meets with Treitschke^s 
entire approval; naturally It would, for It Is the 
realization of the German Idea.^*^ Nevertheless, It 
Is a gross Injustice, when modern Germans, from 
their lofty pedestal of Kultiir, denounce In no meas- 
ured terms Russian barbarism, for that selfsame 
barbarism. In vast tracts of western and southwest 
Russia, Is almost entirely due to the reactionary domi- 
nation of German landowners. In 1907 the 
author made the acquaintance of an Esnian lady 

9 " Die Politik," L, p. 127. 

10 Ibid. L, p. 206. In discussing Alsace-Lorraine, Treitschke 
says that a conquered land has no rights, only to be governed by 
force {Staatsgeivalt) . 



^00 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

resident in Munich, and from her heard how these 
barons retain all their national feelings and lan- 
guage,^^ and how the young girls on their estates are 
compelled to render the same privileges to these Ger- 
man-Russians in the twentieth century which robber 
knights exacted from female serfs in the golden days 
of medievalism. 

Russian hatred for Germanism is not without 
cause, and this ruling class in certain parts of Russia 
is not supporting Russia in the present struggle, but 
we may be sure is assisting the invading German 
armies by every means in its power — especially with 
the characteristic German weapon known as spying. 

The essence of Treitschke's gospel being the de- 
velopment of brute force and its use for aggression 
and national aggrandizement by war, it cannot be 
expected that his attitude to peace could be friendly. 
His bitterest gibes are directed against those who 
strive to reduce armaments and promote world peace. 
In one lecture Treitschke exclaimed: "These de- 
fenders of eternal peace are altogether a set of 
wrong-headed people ! " Certainly this sentiment 
contains a minimum of tolerance towards opponents. 
He always betrays the same irritation in dealing with 
peace proposals. " The blind admirers of perpetual 

11 The German secret report published in the French Yellow 
Book expresses the hope that " the thousands of our German 
brothers who groan under the yoke of the Slav In the Baltic 
provinces " will again come under the German flag. The anony- 
mous author maintains that it is a " national matter " to win them 
for Germany again. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^01 

peace are guilty of an error In logic, In that they 
either Isolate the State or dream of a World-State 
which we have already shown to be an unreasonable 
[foolish] thing." 12 

" All the Peace-PIpe-Smokers In the world will 
never be able to bring about a condition of things, In 
which all the political powers are of one mind, and 
if they are not, only the sword can decide between 
them." 

His ostensible arguments against world peace are 
that It Is Incompatible with human nature and that 
the State Is Its own judge, two points of view which 
have already been dealt with In this work. 

In discussing arbitration, he assumes that no court 
could be Impartial; furthermore It Is a crime against 
its sovereignty for a State to permit other people to 
decide upon matters touching Its Interests; lastly no 
arbitration court possesses the necessary authority to 
enforce Its rulings ; but it Is at least daring to assume 
that such a court, possessing the required dignity, 
impartiality and authority, can never be founded. It 
is, however, capable of historical proof that Ger- 
many has done everything within Its power to post- 
pone the creation of this court Into the dim mists of 
the future. " In the question of Alsace-Lorraine, no 
judge could be impartial. Further, It is a matter of 
honour for a State to arbitrate such a question itself. 
That is to say, there can never be a decisive Interna- 
tional Arbitration Tribunal. The sword, however, 

12 "Die Politik," I., p. 73. 



£02 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

will retain its right to the end of the world; therein 
lies the sacredness of war." ^^ 

Unfortunately for Treitschke's position two pal- 
pable fallacies may be pointed out in the above 
passage. He argues that the State's honour makes 
such a court impossible, but he overlooks the fact 
that the premise — the concept of honour — • is a 
varying and by no means a constant factor. Ger- 
many's standard of honour means irreconcilability, 
declines any form of compromise and declares it dis- 
honourable to unbend, to meet a conquered subject 
half way, or to allow him any other justice than the 
type known as the " mailed fist." 

If all sovereign States accept this ideal, then the 
prospects for arbitration are bad indeed. In former 
times individuals accepted this so-called " honour," 
but with the exception of German duellists and a few 
others, including barbarous and man-eating tribes, 
civilized men have long ago abandoned it. Hence, 
there is every reason to hope that nations — which 
after all are made up of individuals, and ultimately 
express the sum-total of their personal ideals — will 
also abandon Germany's barbarian standard of 
honour. Treitschke defined war in another place as 
*' dispassionate murder." Because this form of 
murder has existed from time immemorial, he pre- 
sumes that it will last till the end of the world — ■ 
therefore it is sacred — one of God's ordinances.: 

13 "Die Politik," L, p. 38. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 203 

Since the first murder of passion — Cain's murder of 
his brother — was committed, murder has never 
ceased in the earth and we may presume that it never 
will. Therefore according to Treitschke's logic 
*' passionate murder " is also sacred, and another di- 
vine ordinance. 

One of his historical instances, quoted to show 
the horror of peaceful tendencies, is the flight of 
Dutch merchants before the invading armies of Louis 
XIV. His comment is: "This is the kind of un- 
speakable shame, to which the cowardly madness of 
those people leads, who hold peace to be the highest 
and greatest blessing." 

If space permitted a great many passages might 
be quoted showing that Treitschke's glorification of 
war and brute force is at bottom mere envy and 
greed. Envy of those better placed, and the lust to 
gain their possessions by war. '* In the dividing up 
^of the world between the European powers, Ger- 
many has always fared too badly. And it is a vital 
existence-question for us whether we can become a 
power on the other side of the ocean. Otherwise we 
are faced with the monstrous prospect that England 
and Russia will divide the world between themselves, 
and one hardly knows which would be the more im- 
moral and more horrible of the two — the Russian 
knout or the English purse." ^* 

Evidently Treitschke left his hearers to conclude 

1* " Die Politik," I., pp. 42-3. 



204j the soul of GERMANY 

that the German sword Is better than either knout or 
purse, although after the advertisement given to the 
German sword and Kultur during the present war, 
the world In general might well hesitate to concur 
in their alleged superiority. In addition to which 
the sneer at England's purse must seem strained to 
those who possess the most superficial acquaintance 
with German character. 

No other country suffers from avaricious love of 
money In the same degree as modern Germany. 
The Englishman loves money for the power which 
It gives, and delights in spending It; while the Ger- 
man will sell his soul and honour to get lucre for 
the miser's joy In hoarding and worshipping it, i.e,, 
the German loves money for itself. 

Treltschke was not even content with Mother 
Nature's treatment of his Fatherland, and in decry- 
ing the lack of nature's bounty he exclaims : " This 
Germany with her disgusting coasts was once the 
greatest maritime power in the world and, God wil- 
ling, she shall be again." With true German logic 
he envies and hates the power which is first. 
Throughout all his works, the petty-minded man 
speaks, who lives in a cottage and hates the resident 
in a villa. It Is the hate of Ignorance, for Treltschke 
never saw England till two years before his death 
and then only for two months. 

If these lines should meet the eye of any English- 
men who showed him hospitality at the end of 1894, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 205 

the following extract may enlighten them as to the 
depths of German ingratitude. His friend Paul 
Bailleu in his obituary sketch of Treitschke, which 
appeared in the monthly Deutsche Rundschau during 
1896, describes Treitschke's first meeting with his 
friends after his return from England. Treitschke 
Is talking and before his hearers " an English railway 
station with its ugly placards appears, which disgusts 
him. Then an hotel and English guests and their 
manners, which enrage him. (One listener utters a 
mild protest, while a second reminds him of Heine's 
diatribes against England.) Far too mild for me, 
he exclaimed, and the incomparable force of his 
stream of satiric description carried us all irresistibly 
away. Again and again we stood up, aroused to the 
highest pitch of enthusiasm by the passionate power 
of his eloquence, which like a primeval force of na- 
ture poured from him in sublimest words, expressing 
the most ideal world-view, but often too blazing up 
into flames of burning rage." 

Unfortunately Herr Bailleu does not record the 
opinions on England which fired the enthusiasm of 
that little gathering of peace-loving Teutons. Per- 
haps it included an imaginary description of London 
falling into German hands, a possibility mentioned 
by Treitschke on another occasion. ^^ 

In view of Germany's alliance with Turkey, 
Treitschke's opinion of that power is of interest. 

15 « Die Politik," I., p. 77. 



206 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

" It is to be hoped that in the near future the disgrace 
will be blotted out that such a power should ever have 
established itself on European soil. 

" What has the Turkish Empire achieved in three 
centuries? It has only destroyed. It came rushing 
over the Occident like a huge avalanche of evil things, 
annihilating everything before it. Turkey is irre- 
claimable and will remain so in spite of all promises 
of freedom. To our mode of thought it is a foreign 
world, which cannot be reformed according to 
European ideas, but can only be overthrown." ^^ 

At last the author has found something in 
Treitschke's creed which is common to his own. It 
is the irony of history that Treitschke's ideal State 
is now allied to the " avalanche of evil things " in a 
common effort to annihilate civilization. But the 
alliance will not have been in vain if Treitschke's 
wish is realized and rotten Turkey is cast out of the 
European community. 

Before leaving Treitschke, his attitude to religion 
deserves brief mention. Hausrath ^'^ says he called 
himself a freethinker, adding that great patience was 
necessary to hear his constant attacks on the theolo- 
gians. " He never spoke of the clergy than as die 
P faff en [expresses great contempt], and they were 
in his opinion, a very inferior class of men." This 
too is worthy of note in deciding his ultimate influ- 
ence upon his country. 

16 "Die Politik," II., p. 33. i^ Hausrath's " Erinnerungen," p. 128, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 207 

> 

According to another euloglzer ^^ he was a " Poet, 
Artist, Historian, Teacher, Orator and Publicist 
whose Influence Is paramount upon the German his- 
torians of to-day. Not these alone, but the whole of 
educated Germany looks up to him as a Prophet and 
Germany's Apostle." 

The nation has absorbed only too thoroughly his 
mad, poisonous gospel of brute force and aggression, 
as the highest human Ideal, and It would be hard to 
decide who Is more blood-guilty — his dupes who 
precipitated the present war, or Treltschke himself 
who conceived the Idea and made armaments an idol, 
and war a sacred duty. 

18 Marx's Lecture, " Heinrich von Treitschke," 1906. 



CHAPTER XI 

'* THE REPTILE PRESS " BISMARCK 

THE purpose of the chapters on Germany's 
schools, universities, churches, etc., has been 
to show the soil upon which the poison of Pan- 
Germanism has flourished — in short, the conditions 
which favoured the growth of that remarkable plant. 
Those institutions have served not only as seed-beds, 
but also as channels through which the baneful ideas 
of aggression by brute force, Germany's mission as a 
world power, have been disseminated. Probably 
these alone would have been insufficient; they repre- 
sent largely the domains within reach of the ^' spoken 
word." But the power of the " printed word " is 
infinitely greater. 

The eloquence of a great preacher moves just as 
many people as may be able to find sitting or stand- 
ing room within the four walls of his church; the 
newspaper, however, penetrates into nearly every 
home, and its appeal is made to a " congregation " 
counted by hundreds of thousands, which is certainly 
a reason why the national press should be honest and 
free. 

Germans claim that the first newspaper originated 
in Augsburg in the form of commercial and shipping 

208 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 209 

leaflets given out by the great merchant family 
Fugger, of that city. Whether this be true or not is 
a matter only of historical interest, but it is of im- 
mediate interest to note that the German press has 
been left centuries behind by that of at least three 
other European powers r England, France, and Italy. 
In respect to freedom, personnelle, independence, 
speed of publication, uprightness, truthfulness, its 
telegraphic and other services, its circulation and dis- 
tributive organizations, the London press is sep- 
arated from that of Germany — to the latter's disad- 
vantage — by a great gulf. 

Enlightened Teutons often complain about the 
grandmotherliness which distinguishes many phases 
of their public life. Nowhere, perhaps, is the 
" grandmother '' idea more applicable than to the 
German newspaper press, added to which she is a 
nasty, virulent-tongued old lady of the very worst 
grandmother type. She does not express the broad 
tenets of public opinion; ^ neither does she form and 
educate the latter in the best sense, but gives herself 
up to violent splenetic vapourings or heavy Ger- 
man sneers. Notwithstanding these facts, her utter- 
ances are accepted as gospel truths by untold millions. 

^ There is no consolidated enlightened public opinion in Ger- 
many. It is the State's first instinct of self-preservation to prevent 
such a phenomenon from making an appearance. There are no 
broadly accepted standards of right and wrong, which should ex- 
press the national conscience, but rather a great many warring 
atoms of political, religious, and social creeds, loosely held together 
by ties of nationality and a united dislike of England. 



^10 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

When speaking of the British press the average 
man thinks at once of the London dailies. But the 
German press is not represented by the newspapers 
pubHshed in Berlin. In fact, at least two important 
organs have their home in Cologne and Frankfort- 
on-the-Main, viz., the Kolnische Zeitung and Frank- 
furter Zeitung, These two, with the Berliner Tage- 
hlatt, are the only three dailies to which one may with 
any stretch of the imagination apply the adjective 
" great." In common with all important organs, 
they are cumbersome affairs, issued in five daily 
editions. 

Many local papers have one daily edition, but 
every paper of importance has at least two, a 
Morgen- and Ahendhlatt. The following instance 
will serve as an illustration of their slow methods: 

The Austrian crown prince and his consort were 
murdered on the morning of June 28th, and the 
tragedy was announced in the evening of the same 
day by telegrams posted outside newspaper-offices. 
On Monday morning (June 29th) at 8 130 the author 
asked for a newspaper at the railway bookstall in 
Erlangen — there was none to be had. An hour 
later he inquired at the same source in Nuremberg, 
only to learn that no papers had arrived yet. Later 
in the day local and outside journals were on sale, 
containing a meagre account of the murder. On 
Tuesday two London papers arrived (published on 
Monday morning), which gave several columns 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 211 

about the murder, biographies of its victims, por- 
traits of them and views of Serajevo, etc. The 
German papers, also, which were published on the 
same Tuesday contained pretty full accounts, most 
of which, however, had been gleaned from English 
papers published on Monday, June 29th. ^ On the 
following Thursday in a lecture to a number of young 
men in training for the State Secondary Schools the 
author produced the English and German papers, to 
point out how much quicker London journals col- 
lected and distributed news in all parts of the world 
— a lesson for which the hearers displayed no sign 
of gratitude. 

Even the richest concerns have comparatively few 
correspondents scattered about their own country, 
while outside Its limits their foreign correspondents 
are indeed, few and far between. For news they 
rely almost entirely upon press agencies — including 
the officially subsidized Wolff Agency — London 
and Paris papers. 

On many occasions the writer has told Germans 
that the Great English dailies had a correspondent 
in every Important city of the world, but the Informa- 
tion was received as if It were worthy of Baron 

2 Dr. Karl Peters, in his book on England, refers in drastic terras 
to the backwardness of the German journalistic world. He states 
that the principal instruments in the German editor's office are a 
pair of scissors, a pot of paste, and a brush. It is true. Big Ger- 
man papers steal by means of telegraph and letter-post, the smaller 
fry with scissors and paste-brush. 



^12 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Miinchhausen or with the qualification that the 
Enghsh government must pay huge sums to those 
papers as a kind of national propaganda. Journal- 
istic enterprise is to all intents and purposes an un- 
known factor in modern Germany. 

In 1906 a London daily commissioned the author 
to visit Augsburg and interview Major Parseval con- 
cerning his airship. The writer was received most 
kindly, but with naive amazement that a journal 
could spend so much money — about five pounds — 
for such an object. 

Few people in Germany ever believed that when 
the Standard changed hands about seven hundred 
thousand pounds was paid for it; while a little 
pamphlet published by the Daily Mail describing its 
rise and growth aroused mirthful ridicule. The 
average German could not be convinced that his 
Fatherland had anything to learn from other coun- 
tries in respect to journalism. 

A healthy-toned national press has long been one 
of Germany's most crying needs; responsible jour- 
nals, which, like a great searchlight, would have 
illumined the dark corners of barrack life, the cynical 
injustice of courts-martial, the white-slavery among 
shop-girls and waitresses, the brutal egoism of stu- 
dent life — in short, the thousand and one evils and 
shams hidden under brilliant uniforms, which effec- 
tively prevent the elements of justice and good feel- 
ing between man and man. Instead of this we had 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY S13 

the spectacle of a press whose columns were filled 
with nauseous perverting details concerning Fiirst 
Eulenburg, Frau Schoenebeck and their school; per- 
sonal quarrels between editors and the washing of 
dirty linen in general; the war of creeds — religious 
and political; mutual abuse between the States com- 
prising the German Empire ; ^ all diluted with envy 
and bitter gall towards mankind in general. 

A press of this order is exactly suited to further 
the ends of the Prussian State, and it is certain that 
the government, by means of legislation, has made 
the growth of any other kind quite impossible. In 
England one often reads the plea of justification in 
libel cases : " Fair comment on matters of public 
interest." Such a defence would be insuflicient to 
keep a German editor from imprisonment or being 
mulcted in heavy fines. He must prove herechtigte 
Interessen^ (justified interests), and of these, ac- 
cording to German laws, he has exceedingly few. 
Suppose for a moment that a journalist criticizes some 
military injustice, e.g., ill-treatment of soldiers, then 
he may be called upon to show what his " justified 
interest " in the concern is, failing which he would 
undoubtedly receive sentence. That the question is 
one of public interest and well-being avails him noth- 

^ Das Vaterland, a Bavarian paper, was founded for the purpose 
of attacking everything Prussian. It lived entirely upon scurrilous 
abuse. Its founder is said to have coined the epithet which has 
stuck to Prussians, viz., Saupreusse (Prussian sow!). 

* Paragraph 193, German Penal Code {Strafgesetzbuch). 



'^14 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

ing; the matter is no direct concern of his or his 
journal. 

In practice the result is that only the State, mili- 
tary authorities or police have " justified interests,'* 
and in order that the author of the article may learn 
this lesson thoroughly he is condemned to a few 
months' imprisonment to meditate upon such an act 
of presumption — helping the State to look after its 
affairs ! 

In regard to questions of international import 
German newspapers have never been able to express 
more than a one-sided official view. Their political 
horizon lacks breadth, while any development of 
another European power in any quarter of the globe 
generally provoked diatribes about Germany being 
in danger, or that her interests had again been 
betrayed. 

For three whole months in the spring of 19 14 the 
entire German press occupied itself in a most violent 
attack on Russia; the only incitement which Russia 
had given to cause this avalanche of threats was the 
expressed intention of putting her own military house 
in order.^ Germany may keep her " sword sharp," 

5 No subject of conversation let loose more eloquence than that of 
Russia's rottenness, England's unpreparedness, and France's de- 
cay (?). Yet if either of these countries proposed reforms or more 
extended organization, they served as texts for embittered sermons 
on designs against peaceful Germany. The fact is that Germany 
desired to arrange not only her own affairs, but to dominate her 
neighbours' household affairs too, as witness the Kaiser's letters 
to Lord Tweedmouth, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 215 

her " powder dry," but any nation which dares to 
take similar precautions is charged with meditated 
treachery against the Fatherland, and myriads of 
great and little journals enter the field with invective, 
abuse and rankling hate. In such polemics even 
rulers of neighbouring lands may not hope to escape 
obscene and violent attack. 

The opinion that Germany's press campaign 
against Russia was not without official sanction was 
confirmed by Bethmann-Hollweg's dark hints spoken 
in the Reichstag, directed to the same address. On 
the whole, however, the German press has shown 
Itself to be sadly misinformed on international ques- 
tions. During the fateful week preceding the war 
her papers gave very little attention to England's 
policy — the dominating factor in the whole situa- 
tion — while they did give extensive reports of 
Italy's promises (?) to join in against the Triple 
Entente and of Japan's intention to declare war on 
Russia. 

Every constant reader of German newspapers 
could not arrive at any other conclusion than that 
they are prevented from discussing German affairs 
with moderate freedom, but are permitted unlimited 
license in their gibes at foreign countries and mon- 
archs, and it is only in such abusive attacks that any 
semblance of unity is ever visible. In what degree 
such campaigns were engineered by the official Press 
Bureau in Berlin it Is impossible to determine, but 



216 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

there is no evidence which proves that the " reptile 
press '* is in any way less supine than in Bismarck's 
day. Its voice may be, and is, bought and sold. Its 
financial position is much too precarious to encourage 
the hope that they are above corruption. 

The class of men — journalists are wretchedly 
paid and have no social status — who are engaged in 
the press world do not inspire confidence. The rich 
man whose son has compromised himself simply tele- 
phones to the papers and all reports are suppressed 
^ — for a consideration! If a flourishing business 
man does not advertise in the local papers he will 
certainly expose himself to vulgar attacks inspired by 
his competitors. The writer concurs entirely In a 
remark made to him by a prominent Bavarian:^ 
** The German press is capable of anything! " 

Unfortunately it is by no means easy to show how 
the authorities make use of the Press, but at least one 
tangible proof can be given that a host of papers 
receive public moneys. In every town and district 
a journal — nearly always the one with the greatest 
influence — is selected by the burgomaster and town 
council as their official organ. This paper bears the 
title Amtshlatt (official gazette), and in it alone, all 
civic and State announcements are made, such as re- 
quests for tenders, everything which falls under the 
head of bye-laws, military announcements, calls for 

6 Dr. Toenissen of Erlangen. This gentleman Is a North Ger- 
man by birth, but highly esteemed in Bavaria. The present King 
Ludwig has been a guest in his home. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^17 

rates and taxes, regulations for public houses, etc. 
Everybody Is morally compelled to take It, otherwise 
he would be unaware of the latest police, military and 
other official notices — Ignorance would not protect 
him should he transgress one of them. 

These journals never attack the authorities, for 
that would result in the most lucrative part of their 
business being transferred to some more servile 
editor. Germany suffers from a plethora of dally 
publications, the vast majority of which are wretch- 
edly poor, therefore the certain source of Income 
from town or State, Is an Inducement for which the 
proprietors will gladly sell an editorial conscience. 
Their columns are open to anything or everything 
which comes von oh en (from above), to use the 
phrase usually employed In speaking of authorities 
and superiors in an Indefinite sense. 

In these Insignificant publications. In common par- 
lance Kdshlatt (i.e., a paper only fit for a salesman 
to use when wrapping up cheese), one can meet with 
articles which could not have emanated from the 
staff. Their style and contents betray the expert. 

In such Kdshldtter, articles appeared at Intervals 
on England, the Navy, commercial rivalry between 
the two countries, Germany's need of a navy to deal 
with the English bully, and such-like themes, which 
displayed a real knowledge and intellectual grasp not 
to be found in the brain of a thirty-shillings-a-week 
newspaper man — the factotum of a German 



^18 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Amtshlatt. In the university reading-room a large 
number of papers from all parts of Germany were 
accessible, but the mystery surrounding the able 
articles only deepened, when the writer observed that 
these articles appeared and reappeared at various 
times and places. Without the shadow of a doubt 
they had been circulated by some central office such 
as the " Official Press Bureau " or the " German 
Navy League," while their authors may have been 
statesmen or admirals — In any case able men. 

Thus all German authorities have an ever open 
door by which their ideas can enter Into nearly every 
home, for In addition to the moral compulsion com- 
pelling every man to subscribe to these journals their 
price is ridiculously low. 

Two Instances will suffice to illustrate the point. 
The Nuremberg Amtshlatt Is the Frdnkischer Kurier, 
an alleged organ of the National Liberal party; 
thirteen editions appear during the week, two on 
weekdays and an enlarged edition on Sunday morn- 
ings. Subscribers pay about 3s. gd. per quarter, 
including delivery. In Erlangen there Is the Er- 
langer Taghlatt, with one edition daily, costing six- 
pence per month.''^ 

Very few German papers can demand a sale-price 
of one penny per day, except when single copies are 

■^ German newspapers are sold by subscription. I have only seen 
newspapers sold in the streets of Berlin. Placards are not dis- 
played. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 219 

sold on railway stations. Advertisements, too, are 
extraordinarily cheap, yet there Is no doubt that the 
rates are determined, as in other lands, by the circu- 
lation. 

Patriotic Germans were deeply wounded when 
their own Commissioner, in reporting on the national 
exhibit at the Chicago Exhibition, referred to the Ger- 
man manufactures department as " cheap and nasty." 
It is long since obvious that our cousins have done 
much to remove that slur, but it still deserves unqual- 
ified application to the German newspaper press. 
Even in the twentieth century it Is encrusted with a 
thick coating of academic mustiness, through which 
modern progress has failed even to scratch. Its 
heaviness, lack of literary style, caustic sneers, love 
of personalities and polemic, cut a bad figure when 
compared with the English journalism of Defoe and 
the pamphleteers. 

There is only one redeeming feature to the per- 
sonal attacks: the law compels the editor to accept 
and publish a rejoinder If the victim desires, but the 
law cannot prevent him from haggling for weeks 
about Its tone and form. 

German capitalists do not appear to consider jour- 
nalism a first-class Investment, which probably ac- 
counts for the out-of-date telegraphic and telephonic 
services, as well as for the fact that really able men 
seldom enter the journalistic profession. It offers 
too few opportunities for genius. Furthermore, an 



220 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

editor can very easily obtain board and lodging at 
the public expense, or find himself in the predicament 
of having to fight quite a series of duels. Such con- 
ditions have developed a talent for innuendoes and 
dastardly, veiled attacks, a parallel for which we may 
seek elsewhere in vain. 

With regard to the proprietor or shareholders, 
their exasperation at the fetters which rob the press 
of its due freedom, or their desire to reform any- 
thing else " rotten in the State of Denmark," Is 
easily kept within bounds by the danger — easily 
incurred — of having their entire printing and 
publishing plant seized and confiscated by the 
police. 

Perhaps there is no better mirror through which 
to observe the everyday life of a nation than its pub- 
lic press, and the German press very truly reflects the 
national character: quarrelsome, vain, ostentatious, 
vulgar, above all unclean. Mention has already 
been made of the obscene reports of law cases, but 
if this point needs any confirmation It may be found 
In the advertisement columns — that happy hunting- 
ground of men and women seeking liaisons,^ ladies 

^The average German, on settling in another city, generally in- 
serts an advertisement in a local paper seeking the acquaintance of 
a girl to accompany him on Sunday walks and excursions. 
Through police intervention these advertisements now generally 
take the form of " a gentleman seeks a wife " or " a gentleman 
wishes to exchange English lessons with a lady." The aim and 
result remain the same, although the form has become more pe- 
culiarly German. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 221 

seeking a quiet retreat, and other nauseous matters 
unfit to expatiate upon In this place. 

One other source — or rather outlet — of this 
national uncleanness may be mentioned — the so- 
called humorous papers. The conception of a Punch 
has not yet found realization in Germany, and it 
would be difficult to name a comic paper published In 
the Fatherland which a decent family man would care 
to introduce to his home. Of these, the most pop- 
ular — a fact which speaks volumes for German 
taste ! — Is the Munich weekly Simplicissimus, of 
which Professor Geiger, of Erlangen, once said to me 
*' es 1st ein Volksgift " (it is a national poison). 
Yet It may be found In thousands of well-to-do homes, 
restaurants and coffee-houses, public reading-rooms 
and barbers' shops, and until it offended the State by 
caricatures of the Crown Prince and the King of Ba- 
varia, It could be purchased on every railway book- 
stall in the Empire. Most of the staff have seen the 
inside of a German prison. 

The caricature of King Ludwig was perfectly 
harmless. It Is a matter of common knowledge that 
his uniform never fits well, yet it was a criminal 
offence to draw him with his trousers all pleats and 
folds, with a joke underneath suggesting a similarity 
to a concertina. It Is well to remember, however, 
that this paper was banned from the State railways on 
account of this joke and not as a punishment for the 
innumerable atrocious pictures which It has published 



22^ THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

since 1902 of the English, Russian and Serbian royal 
families. 

Simplicissimus represents perhaps better than any- 
thing else, German vulgarity, a statement more than 
confirmed by the applause which Its efforts call forth. 
During the Morocco crisis one of Its cartoons af- 
forded mirth to millions of Teutons. In It the Ger- 
man Eagle was seen hovering — at a safe distance! 
— above the British Lion. Just as the latter raised 
his head from sleep the gallant eagle spat In his eye. 
Neither the artist nor his admirers perceived that 
spitting — even though It Is characteristic of German 
ladles and gentlemen In public places — Is after all no 
weapon with which to fight and destroy a Hon. 

Another effort made just before the present war 
represented the German Michael asleep. He was 
covered with rats; the whole horizon represented 
Russia, from where countless rats, representing Rus- 
sians, swarmed up to Michael. Underneath one 
read the legend: "When will he wake up and slay 
these vermin! " 

It would be utterly Impossible to quote examples 
of their "suggestive" humour; this work would 
straightway receive a well-deserved boycott on the 
part of the English public and circulating libraries. 
Among the few good things which have appeared 
In Simplicissimus were the realistic articles from the 
pen of Ludwig Thoma, portraying the Bavarian 
peasant — his ignorance, superstition, his intensely 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 223 

quarrelsome nature, and above all his brutality. 

Suffice it to say that German humorous papers on 
the whole are conducted without any respect to ideals 
of good taste — politically, socially or morally. But 
the most unfortunate side is that they are exceedingly 
popular, and are likely to remain so till the day, when 
a cleaner and saner public opinion prevails to make 
them impossible. 

In discussing Simplicissimus with Germans many 
will be met with, who deplore its existence; a far 
greater number will applaud it as the most brilliantly 
humorous ( ?) paper in the world, and some will 
assert that it is not a German paper at all. It is 
said to be in the hands of Jews who direct its entire 
policy. The writer can neither confirm nor combat 
this statement (the only apology offered by Germans 
who are really ashamed of it), but the evidence 
remains incontrovertible that Germans in untold num- 
bers buy this ^^ national poison," read and gloat over 
its contents. Somebody has said: ^' Show me what 
a man reads and I'll tell you what he is." Quod erat 
demons trandunio 




CHAPTER XII 

THE SEAMY SIDE OF CULTURE 

j^N January 12th, 19 15, several London dailies 
published the follov/ing letters, written by a 
professor at Berlin University. They appeared 
originally in the Netherlands Review and were trans- 
lated by Professor Alexander Souter for the Aber^ 
deen Free Press, Professor Souter is responsible 
for the English rendering. 

"Berlin, September 29th, 1914. 
'' My dear Friend: 

" For months I have not written to a single 
foreigner: a foreigner is an enemy until he proves 
that he is not. One cannot rest neutral in relation- 
ship to Germany and the German people. Either 
one must consider Germany as the most perfect polit- 
ical creation that history has known, or one must 
approve her destruction, her extermination. A man 
who is not German knows nothing of Germany. 

^' We are morally and intellectually superior to 
all : without peers. It is the same with our organiza- 
tions and our institutions. 

" Wilhelm II., delicia generis humani, has always 
protected peace, right and honour, although it would 
have been possible for him by his power to annihilate 
everything. The greater his success, the more mod- 
est he has become. 

224 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY S25 

" His Chancellor, Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg, 
the most eminent among men who are at present 
alive, does not know any higher cares than those of 
truth, loyalty and right. Our Army is, as it were, 
the image in miniature of the intelligence and the 
morality of the German people. 

" We must sacrifice the best and the noblest among 
us in a war against the Russian brutes, the English 
mercenaries, and the Belgian fanatics. The French 
are those who are most like us. 

" We shall have no peace as long as the three 
European meddlers will not be stricken down. We 
wish to have peace and security, and we shall guar- 
antee it to others. We wish to be able to pursue our 
work of civilization. . . . We do good to every- 
body. 

" England has a policy which reminds one of the 
European States of the eighteenth century. Ger- 
many, on the contrary, has taught the world to use 
conscience as the guide in diplomacy and to make war 
In a spirit of loyalty. England is going to her ruin. 
France may yet be saved. As to Russia, she must 
no more be our neighbour. This time we shall wipe 
the slate clean. Our true foe is England. Woe to 
you, Albion ! God is with us, and is defending our 
just cause! 

" Adolf Lasson." 

" Berlin, September 30th. 
'' Dear Friend: 

*' Allow me to give you some further indication 
of what cultivated Germans are thinking. 

"To-day, Holland can think what it wishes; but 
every action hostile to the German Empire would 
have the most serious consequences. For this Hol- 
land of to-day, we Germans have very little respect 
und sympathy. We are breathing, with full chest> 



^26 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

the large breath of History, and we know nothing 
about this wretched bourgeois existence. 

" We have no friends. All fear us and look upon 
us as dangerous, because we are intelligent, active 
and morally superior. We are the freest people in 
the world. For we know how to obey. 

" Our law is reason. Our force is the force of 
the mind; our victory the victory of that. That is 
why we are able to struggle against numerous ene- 
mies, as did Frederick II. in other days. 

" The European conspiracy has woven around us 
a web of lies and slander. 

" As for us, we are truthful, our characteristics 
are humanity, gentleness, conscience, the virtues of 
Christ. In a world of wickedness, we represent 
love, and God is with us ! 

" Adolf Lasson." 

Unfortunately Professor Lasson has not explained 
his conception of Kultur; he merely claims that Ger- 
mans are the highest cultural products which history 
has hitherto brought into being. Even in this mod- 
est claim the learned philosopher is not in the least 
original, the present writer has heard many hundred 
Teutons proclaim the same thing.^ We must turn 
to other sources to discover what Kultur implies. 
Recently the Kaiser informed an American inter- 
viewer that it meant the deepest and widest percep- 
tion of the universe and all that it contains ; in other 
words, enlightenment and knowledge. 

lA French gentleman who had spent many years in Germany 
often said to his friends: "These people [the Germans] talk about 
nothing but Kultur, yet they have not the faintest idea of what 
Kultur really means." 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 22T 

One of the Kaiser's subjects ^ has given us a still 
wider definition: "In the conception Kiiltur we 
include everything which distinguishes man from 
the animal." An Englishman in the Evening News, 
proceeding on these lines, defined it " as the whole 
scheme of things as arranged according to the Ger- 
man ideal or point of view. It covers such diverse 
operations as going in to dinner and listening to lec- 
tures, it lays down laws for colonies and a course of 
reading, it arranges the drawing-room, the class-room 
and the emotions. It encourages national pride and 
a national preparation of the cabbage; it discourages 
pity, courteousness and lightness of touch; this last 
whether in the kitchen or in literature." 

The author has no criticism to ofler on these three 
Interpretations ; he will only add to the last one that 
it includes orderliness and punctuality — especially 
In the running of trains.^ Nothing brings out in- 
nate Prussian rudeness quicker than an offence against 
his punctuality-deity. Bavarian trains and other ar- 
rangements are not always so exact as Prussian insti- 
tutions, and North Germans, when travelling in 
Bavaria, do not hesitate to express themselves on the 
subject. 

2 Dr. Paul Michaelis, in his book, "Von Bismarck bis Beth- 
mann " (Berlin, 1911), p. 273. 

2 In the first chapter of Dr. Carl Peters' book on England there 
is a mournful discourse about the unpunctuality of English trains 
and a contrast drawn with Prussian achievements in that domain. 
Peters is an interesting writer, but as he includes Sadism in his 
notion of individual culture we have no occasion to be angry with 
his strictures. 



g28 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

The writer has often heard an exasperated Prus- 
sian declaim about diesen hayrischen Saustall ^ when 
a train has been five minutes late. His Kultur has 
not taught him to respect the feelings of Bavarian 
fellow-travellers, but his doctrine of self-assertion 
permits him to go about Europe domineering over 
other people in their own country, greedily accepting 
their hospitality, and simultaneously wounding their 
susceptibilities. 

After polluting the pavements of Italian streets, 
and the floors of Italian museums and cathedrals by 
his promiscuous habit of spitting, he returns to his 
beloved Prussia to sing ich bin ein Preusse,^ and 
descant on die dreckischen Italiener (the filthy Ital- 
ians). Neither Professor Lasson nor the humblest 
subject of Kaiser Wilhelm possesses sufficient humour 
to recall the proverb concerning self-praise, of which 
the German equivalent is Eigenloh stinkt! 

After all, the definition of Kultur is not so impor- 
tant as the application of the idea underlying it. 
Here the English and German notions are diametri- 
cally opposed to each other. According to the latter 
Kultur is not intended to make a man nobler, it is not 
meant to refine him, raise his conception of character, 
nor have any bearing whatever upon his dealings with 
men. 

The English are old-fashioned in expecting a man 

'*"0h! this Bavarian pigsty!" 

^ " I am a Prussian," the first words of a Prussian national hymn. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 229 

of learning and enlightenment to develop nobler 
modes of life, purer manners and all the other " shib- 
boleths " of English " sentimental utilitarianism.'* 
Knowledge and Kultur must be obtained for their 
own sake ; they are not intended to transform the in- 
dividual, and the individual has not to assimilate them 
in order to make himself and his fellow-men better 
and happier for their possession. It would seem, 
however, that England has decided to retain her out- 
of-date ideals, and this encourages the writer to dis- 
cuss the seamy side of Kultur, although he is fully 
aware that from the German point of view the fol- 
lowing considerations have no bearing upon the ques- 
tion at all. 

Kultur implies punctual trains, a good tram-serv- 
ice, magnificent municipal theatres, gaudy restaurants, 
upright men In brilliant uniforms with heathen 
hearts, and fat policemen wearing sword and revol- 
ver, who treat the populace like a pack of fox-hounds. 
Incidentally It means vile sanitary arrangements In 
German houses, but these are not exteriors, and may 
be left out of the account. The word " exteriors " 
has let out the secret. Kultur consists of exteriors, 
and has no relation whatever to the things which are 
hidden beneath the surface. Indeed, the ability to 
talk Nietzsche and Kant, or simper over the latest ex- 
travagances of Strauss' music, gives an Indulgence cov- 
ering free love ; while gay, well-fitting uniforms lend 
the right to trample on all Ideas of human justice. 



230 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Kultur IS really only one exterior, not many; it is 
whitewash — the exterior which hides the horrors of 
the German national sepulchre. As such it does not 
inspire our admiration nor arouse our envy. In fact, 
we should prefer to leave it severely alone, but the 
German attempt to whitewash the world with Kultur 
compels us to give it passing notice. 

The writer has dealt with the question of morality 
in the Fatherland in another chapter. In support 
of the contention that immorality is widespread a 
number of proofs have been given. The V erhdltnis- 
System does not flourish in vain; every year nearly 
five army corps of illegitimate children are born. To 
be precise, the average number of children born 
of unmarried German women during the period 1901 
to 1910 was 178,115 per annum.^ 

In all civilized countries the home is considered 
the foundation of social and national existence. If 
the family loses its sanctity as an institution it is gen- 
erally assumed that anti-moral forces are at work. 
Increased material prosperity has not led to an in- 
crease of marriages in Germany, but the number of 
divorces leaps higher year by year. The figures are : 

NUMBER OF COUPLES WHO SOUGHT A DIVORCE 
1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 



17,600 18,290 19)889 20,746 22,334 23,174 



^ All figures quoted In this chapter are taken from the publica- 
tions of the Imperial Statistic Office for the German Empire, Berlin, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 231 

NUMBER OF DIVORCES ACTUALLY GRANTED 
1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 



12,202 12,803 13*478 i4>586 14,858 15,815 

Paragraph '172 in the German penal code declares 
adultery an offence punishable with imprisonment up 
to six months. A prosecution is instituted only when 
the adulterer is officially denounced to the police. 

The writer has heard and read of duels being 
fought as a result of adultery, but never heard of a 
case of imprisonment. Divorce cases are always 
taken in camera, and no report ever appears in the 
press. 

Breach of promise cases are unknown in German 
law, and damages for a ruined home are also inad- 
missible. Germans consider damages as allowed in 
the English divorce court to be a proof that English- 
men have no sense of personal honour. 

A few averages will suffice to indicate the amount 
of other forms of immorality. Between the years 
1897 ^^^ 1907 there were 5,734 persons condemned 
for incest, and 8,411 individuals sentenced for un- 
natural sexual intercourse. During the same decade 
no fewer than 93,813 men and youths were before 
the courts for rape. 

The appalling nature of these figures becomes evi- 
dent when we pause for a moment to consider that 
the blond beast rapes 9,381 '^ of his own women and 

'^ These figures do not include crimes for which no arrest could 
be made. During the summer of 1914 three young girls were vio- 
lated in Erlangen and the police were unable to detect the criminals. 



232 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

girls per annum, in times of peace, without the incite- 
ment of war and bloodshed. After grasping these 
facts it requires little imagination to comprehend 
the truth of the official reports issued by the French 
and Belgian governments chronicling the atroc- 
ities perpetrated in those lands during the pres- 
ent war. Yet we have the sorry spectacle of Messrs. 
Keir Hardie and Ramsay Macdonald shaking their 
heads and saying, " There is no proof." Will these 
gentlemen have the temerity to doubt the proofs given 
in German courts of justice? It is hard for them to 
admit that they have been the blind leaders of the 
blind, but it is exceedingly bitter for them to see 
myriads of their Genossen (comrades), from their 
'^ land of promise," brimming over with the teachings 
of Social Democracy, letting loose their latent bru- 
tality against the women and girls of Belgium and 
France. Militarism is not entirely responsible for 
these horrors ; German militarism and German Social 
Democracy share the guilt between them. Militar- 
ism has trained and drilled the human tiger; Bebel, 
Marx, Liebknecht and Co. freed him from responsi- 
bility to God and man. The atrocities in Belgium 
are equally the fruits of Social Democratic doctrines 
and militarism, and the writer gives Mr. Keir Har- 
die's friends the first place. 

Germany has become the classic land of both these 
forces — militarism and atheistic, immoral Social 
Democracy — and it is noteworthy that the Germans 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^33 

in 1870 were far less brutal in warfare than in this 
struggle.^ 

During the past forty-four years Bebel, Engel and 
Marx' teachings have taken deep root in Germany; 
the writer has spent years in observing the results of 
Bebel's leaven of envy, and asserts that the German 
lower classes — represented by the 4% rnillion men 
who voted for Social Democracy in 19 12 — are 
brutal — whitewashed with a veneer of Kiiltur, and 
the statistics of German criminality confirm his asser- 
tion. 

It would be unjust to charge German Social Demo- 
crats with all the crimes in peace or all the atrocities 
in war, but this fact must be reckoned with : millions 
of the Kaiser's soldiers are members of the party 
which has brought no good thing in religion, moral- 
ity, or into everyday human affairs in modern Ger- 
many. 

On the 30th of July, 19 14, the writer^s wife told 
him that the maid wished to leave her place imme- 
diately war broke out, in order to return to her par- 
ents. This would have placed us in an awkward pre- 
dicament, so the writer asked for reasons. The girl 
— aged twenty-five, intelligent and experienced — 
replied that she would be afraid to remain in Erlan- 

^ In Appendix II. the statistics of crimes in the German Army 
and Navy are given. The writer considers that they support his 
point, that German militarism has contributed less to German 
criminality than Social Democratic doctrines have, during the past 
forty years. 



234 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

gen for fear of the Sozis. On being further ques- 
tioned it proved that she was really afraid of some 
crime of violence against her person by some member 
of the lower orders, whom she classed under the gen- 
eric term Sozi. She was speaking from her own 
level in life, and speaking of her own class, therefore 
her fear was not the effect of female imagination. 
It is shared by all classes, for German ladies never 
walk in the beautiful forests or countryside without 
suitable escort. 

In dealing with offences against young girls it is 
Instructive to note the extent to which the German 
penal code condones them. Paragraph 182 runs: 
*' He who seduces a girl under the age of sixteen is 
liable to Imprisonment up to one year. A prose- 
cution only follows when the parents or guardian de- 
nounce the offender to the police." The legal cun- 
ning betrayed in the last sentence deserves the sever- 
est condemnation ; in practice it means that the vast 
majority of these crimes never come to light and the 
criminal goes unpunished. 

Parents who have imbibed Herr Bebel's teachings 
that sexual desire must be gratified, and its gratifica- 
tion is something which concerns the individual alone, 
further that chastity is a thing of no consequence — 
such parents are amenable to a consideration in hard 
cash; and if the writer can believe his German ac- 
quaintances, that is just the method which the of- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 235 

fender chooses in order to prevent denunciation to 
the police. 

A further selection from the penal code book be- 
fore leaving the subject; for striking a monarch the 
punishment meted out is either death or penal servi- 
tude for life ; the minimum penalty fixed for insulting 
the Kaiser, Crown Prince or members of other ruling 
families is two months' imprisonment. Insulting or 
libel in general is punished by a fine up to thirty 
pounds or imprisonment up to one year. Perjury is 
considered a very grave offence, the maximum penalty 
is ten years. On the other hand, for seriously 
wounding anyone a criminal cannot be condemned to 
more than five years' penal servitude. 

Most of the cases which would be declared man- 
slaughter or murder in English law are classified in 
Germany as " serious wounding with fatal conse- 
quences " and the judge inflicts a sentence of a few 
years — on an average, four. The statistics of 
criminality under this paragraph (No. 224) deserve 
quotation at length. 

INFLICTING LIGHT BODILY INJURIES 

1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 



No. of persons charged 35,226 34,453 32,999 3i,775 30466 

No. of persons sentenced 27,418 26,803 25,677 24,668 23,745 

INFLICTING SEVERE BODILY INJURIES 

1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 



No. of persons charged 119,841 123,313 118,881 117,864 115,950 
No. of persons convicted 94,471 97,235 93,175 9^,193 90)88i 



236 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER 

1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 



Persons charged 


326 


338 


350 


365 


375 


Persons convicted 


280 


300 


292 


303 


^^^ 



With very few exceptions criminals condemned 
to death for murder are reprieved to penal servitude 
for life. The crimes of violence deserve careful at- 
tention; they are characteristic of Germany, and have 
excited comment from Treitschke and his protago- 
nists — the peace party. The apostle of war 
wrote ^ : " There are epidemics of crime which are 
a very serious danger to a nation. Up to the early 
sixties it used to appear true that crimes of violence 
decreased, and that only crimes of fraud increased 
In peace time. Since then the stabbing custom has 
sprung up. All at once the working classes began to 
carry non-shutting knives (a sort of dagger) , and the 
crimes of brutality, so prevalent In our time, have 
continually increased. 

" The manner in which this blood-licking (Bliit- 
leckerei) spreads like an epidemic Is truly awful, and 
the State must take precautionary measures against 
It. The same Is true of the terrible Increase In crimes 
of shame" (rapes, etc.). 

The *' precautionary measure " which the State 
has taken may be found in paragraph 224 of the Ger- 
man penal code. It Is purely a penal measure of re- 
pression, and the penalty meted out Is not stringent 

9 "Die Politik," II., p. 425. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 237 

enough for the offence. Treitschke's antagonist, 
Pfarrer Umfrld, frankly ascribes the increase of all 
these crimes to militarism. His argument is, If a 
man is trained compulsorily in the use of weapons, he 
naturally appeals to a weapon to settle hisi own 
quarrels. 

The present writer admits militarism as one of the 
causes, but Is inclined to adduce some others. 
Firstly, the innate brutality of the whole German 
nation and their worship of brute force. Secondly, 
the absence of any broad humanitarian movement in 
Germany during the nineteenth century, which would 
have spread higher ideals of human action and in- 
culcated the sacredness of human life. Thirdly, the 
wholesale propagation of the doctrines of Social 
Democracy coincide with this awful increase in crimi- 
nality. 

Bebel and his school freed the individual from 
service to God and man, and opened the floodgates 
of class hatred. It is not surprising, If the working 
classes In Germany, after being taught that they are 
^ responsible neither to God nor man, take justice into 
their own hands. In any case, the fact remains that 
Germany holds the record among civilized nations, 
with an average of over four army corps wounded an- 
nually in time of peace. 

Kiiltur teaches the richer classes to settle their 
quarrels by a duel, but it h?,s no code of honour by 
which the workman may s''jttle his, therefore the lat- 



^m THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

ter seizes either knife, pistol or beer-mug and obeys 
his instincts. 

It is by no means an edifying sight to see two 
British workmen belabouring each other with fisti- 
cuffs, but it is a picture of social culture centuries in 
advance of anything which the working-classes of 
Germany can show, in spite of their universal accep- 
tance of " human brotherhood." 

If Englishmen play the game in their fights, little 
harm results, and a fair fight is a code of honour. 
Among Germans there is no " playing the game," ten 
may attack one; if the latter falls he may be kicked 
or beaten on the ground. 

The ideals expressed in the popular phrase " fair 
play " have never dawned upon any section of the 
German public. Neither " fair play " nor " bully " 
have any equivalent in the German language. The 
German mind has not yet conceived these notions, 
therefore the German tongue has not learned to desig- 
nate them. According to German ideas if you must 
fight, then you may kick, scratch, bite or stab — only 
win! 

In the present war these Teutonic ideals — or 
rather absence of them — are simply projected on an 
infinite scale, and it is useless to scold at every act of 
piracy or every " blow below the belt." Kultur rec- 
ognizes no belt. The same applies to German school- 
boys. If they fight, the methods are the same, only 
the weapons are limited to boots, sticks and stones. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^39 

Brutality breaks out in early years, as may be 
proved by reference to the statistics of Courts for 
Youthful Offenders. In 191 2 the following crimes 
were committed by boys between the ages of twelve 
and eighteen: 

Rapes, 952; murders and manslaughter, 107; in- 
flicting bodily injuries, 8,987; damage to property, 
2,938; arson, 148. Crime has increased by leaps 
and bounds; in 1897 the number of crimes, of all 
kinds, claiming the attention of the authorities was 
'559,007. Ten years later the number had risen to 

643.396- 

A brutal bully is generally vindictive and revenge- 
ful, and the knife is not the only weapon which 
German criminals employ in their lust for revenge 
and destruction. If it is too dangerous to do an 
enemy bodily injury, then the next best way to wreak 
vengeance on him seems to be destruction of his 
property. It has an advantage, for the dastardly act 
can be perpetrated in the night and the chances of 
discovery are minimized. Reference has already 
been made to the fear which German peasants have 
of an enemy setting their barn and ricks alight. 

The following figures justify this fear, although 
they give only a faint idea of the number of crimes 
against property, because the difficulty of detecting 
the criminal is indeed great in a country where vic- 
tims and witnesses have a very real dread of future 
revenge. 



£40 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

DAMAGE TO PROPERTY 

1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 



No. of persons charged 26,393 26,325 25,719 25,605 24,756 

No. of persons convicted 19,919 19,865 19,579 19,492 18,895 

ARSON 

1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 



No. of persons charged 620 608 667 546 600 

No. of persons convicted 431 434 446 395 435 

USING THREATS AND COMPULSION 

1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 



No. of persons charged 17,471 i7,534 16,665 16,119 16,183 
No. of persons convicted 13,128 13,319 12,535 12,180 12,201 

Evidence is not lacking that even Germans get 
tired of life in the pure atmosphere of Professor Las- 
son's peerless Kultur, The number of suicides in- 
creased from 11,836 in 1901 to 14,181 in 191 1. 
The average number of suicides for these eleven 
years works out at 12,356. "The increase of sui- 
cides is the result not alone, and not in the first place, 
of neurotics induced by the struggle for life; but 
above all by the prevailing materialism and the conse- 
quent loss of proportion. Success is over-estimated, 
and accordingly too much importance is attached to 
failure." ^^ 

Notwithstanding this discouraging picture of the 
fruits of Kultur, Germany's War Lord views the fu- 
ture with optimism. In a speech delivered at Miin- 
ster on August 31st, 1907, he said: " In this spirit, 

10 " Moral und Gesellschaft," by Fritz Berolzheimer. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 241 

old and new provinces, citizens, peasants and work- 
men should hold together to work in equal love and 
fidelity for the Fatherland. Then our German peo- 
ple will become the granite rock on which God can 
continue to build up and perfect His cultural task in 
the world. Then the poet's prophecy will be fulfilled 
which says : ' The world will be regenerated by Ger- 
man character {Wesen).'' " 

One of the commanders in the Emperor's army is 
not quite so confident as his master: "The prog- 
ress of general civilization is unmistakable, but 
whether we have gained in inward culture remains 
more than doubtful. Modes of life have changed^ 
but men are the same." ^^ 

A third quotation from German sources will suf- 
fice to complete this sketch of Kultur^s seamy side.^^ 
" ' Germany in front in the world.' With these 
words Biilow acclaimed his Fatherland to an aston- 
ished world. It was an exaggeration. Look at 
Greater-Prussian Kultur from any side you like — it 
presents everywhere a picture of decay and degenera- 
tion. The spirit has long since departed, only 
phlegma remains. Hurrah-patriotism has replaced 
love of Fatherland, and weak-kneed hypocrisy the 
spirit of independence. 

" The pride of poverty and simple wants have 

^^ " Krieg und Politik in der Neuzeit," by General Loringboren. 
Berlin, 1911. 

12 " Von Bismarck bis Bethmann," by Dr. Paul Michaelis. Ber^ 
lin, 1911, p. 273. 



^42 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

given place to purse-proud snobbery and the greed 
of gold. In place of love for truth, there is treach- 
erous ' correctness ' ; instead of the free heart and 
frank speech, timid, fearsome endeavours not to of- 
fend the powers-that-be. What we lack is the will 
to truth." 



CHAPTER XIII 

BAUERNFANGEREI 

ROBERT BROWNING Introduced the Ratten- 
f anger von Hameln ^ to the English reading 
public, but there Is a more important type of the genus 
" catcher," viz., der Bauernf anger. According to 
the old legend, the Pled Piper led away the rats and 
children of Hamelin by the seductive power of music. 
The Bauernf anger Is, in the first place, a sharper 
(welsher ?) who frequents country fairs and by means 
of a persuasive tongue catches *' country yokels," or. 
In other words, swindles them; Moses in the '' Vicar 
of Wakefield " fell a victim to this type of gentle- 
man. 

The Bauernfdnger Is an adept at getting some- 
thing for nothing; he has a peculiar genius for sug- 
gesting false Impressions; he Induces his victims to 
do as he wishes them, but they remain In the dark 
as to his motives and aims — till the swindle Is iin 
fait accompli. These gentlemen know better than 
anyone else the weak side of humanity and under- 
stand how to turn men's vanity and credulity to their 

1 " Pied Piper of Hamelin," or, literally translated, the Rat 
Catcher of Hamelin. 

243 



^44 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

own account. The dictionary translates Bauern- 
f anger as '^ a confidence man," and his occult science, 
Bauernfangerei^ is rendered as " the confidence 
trick." 

For years the writer has heard England denounced 
as the " great confidence trickster," but in this chap- 
ter he hopes to turn the tables on his quondam 
friends by showing that the wiles of the " confidence 
man " are not unknown to the German State. 

One of the honours which may be won In the 
German army deserves notice, the iron cross. This 
institution was founded on March loth, 1813 
(Queen Louisa's birthday), to reward acts of brav- 
ery In the Liberation War. If reports from Ger- 
many may be credited, the Kaiser has been lavish 
in bestowing this coveted honour. Assuming this to 
be true, the Emperor Is only continuing In war, a 
custom long since established in peace — scattering 
broad-cast, empty honours to capture and deceive the 
multitude. It is the traditional method of German 
autocracy, to enable the nation to swallow and endure 
the system. In peace time the scattered honours 
are titles, medals and orders. 

On January ist Bavarian newspapers contain about 
eight columns of closely-printed names with their new 
titles attached.^ Bavaria has a population of about 
7,000,000 souls and a government office for the dls- 

2 In recent years many of the newspapers have declined to sacri- 
fice their space to print these ever-increasing lists. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 215 

tribution of titles. King Ludwig's birthday and 
January ist are the principal days for the wholesale 
distribution of honours to the populace. 

When the Crown Prince of Austria was murdered, 
the Bavarian king was making his first royal prog- 
ress, scattering titles with both hands in every town 
he visited. In 1910 his Royal Highness, then Prince 
Ludwig, visited Erlangen and read out long lists of 
new titles in the Town Hall and University Hall. 
The writer was present on the latter occasion and 
remembers how soundly the Prince slept during the 
patriotic speech of welcome. He remembers, too, 
the secret glee in university circles, because the Fac- 
ulty of Philosophy had conferred an honorary doc- 
torate on a personal enemy of the Prince. Probably 
the latter never heard that his host, the Vice-Chan- 
cellor, Professor Lenk, was deeply insulted because 
he was awarded the " Prince Luitpold Medal " in sil- 
ver, an honour which his Royal Highness had be- 
stowed an hour previously on a sergeant of police ! 
The learned professor talked of rejecting the prof- 
fered piece of silver, but " discretion was the better 
part of valour." 

A few samples of the titles which rain annually on 
the thirsty land are: Kommerzienrat (commercial 
councillor) ; after a few years this is prefixed by the 
word Privy, and a still higher stage is Real-Privy- 
Commercial-Councillor. All three stages are empty 
humbug, for no " commercial council " exists, where 



246 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

these men meet to discuss commerce or anything else. 
It is a cheap method of making a man Important in 
the eyes of his compatriots. No; " cheap " Is a mis- 
statement, for the recipient pays from £800 to 
£1,500 for the honour. 

A lawyer becomes Herr Justizrat; medical men, 
professors, burgomasters, etc., blossom into Herr 
Gehetmrat (Privy Councillor), and later the prefix 
"Real'* Is added (JVirklicher-Geheimer-Hofrat = 
Real-Prlvy-Court-Councillor) , but the Court never 
calls for any advice from the army of Real-Privy- 
Court-Councillors which ornament the cities, State 
universities and schools. But these gentlemen have 
gained In Importance; the State has patted them en- 
couragingly, and said, in effect: "What good and 
faithful little boys you are ! " 

The number of titles distributed in South Ger- 
many Is, however, small In comparison to the myriads 
bestowed in Prussia, where the custom originated. 

Yet it would be unjust to assume that all Germans 
approve of It; the writer has heard various men of 
learning express drastic criticism on the system. 
Some of them do not allow their friends to employ 
the title when addressing them. Workmen and 
other employees, including domestic servants, are 
awarded a bronze medal after twenty-five years' serv- 
ice in the same situation, but at death the honour 
has to be returned to the Hofmarshallamt (the gov- 
ernment department which regulates the traffic in 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY MT 

titles, orders and medals). If the relatives wish to 
retain the medal, the State presents a modest bill for 
IS. 6d. to cover its cost. 

No one understands the weakness and vanity of 
German character better than the German State, and 
playing on this vanity is one of its trump cards in 
gaining popular acceptance for the autocratic idea. 
Titles, orders and medals help to console their re- 
cipients for the absence of true freedom, and help 
to attach them to the powers-that-be. 

Bismarck's universal suffrage falls under this cate- 
gory. As mentioned in another place, every man has 
a vote after completing his twenty-fifth year. It is- 
an empty privilege, for the Reichstag, when electedy 
has no voice in national affairs; the ministers who 
direct home and foreign policy are not responsible to 
the Parliament. When addressing the Reichstag on 
November 29th, 188 1, Bismarck said: *' Gentlemen, 
do not imagine that I serve you. I serve the Em- 
peror alone." Yet he had established the system of 
every man a vote, and only one vote. It was the 
confidence trick on a large scale, an universal but 
worthless vote. Faithful to Treitschke's Statecraft, 
the German State never intended power to be in the 
hands of the people. 

The system is openly styled Bauernfdngerei^ ang- 
lice, confidence trick; or the persuasive eloquence 
which a cheap-jack employs when foisting his worth- 
less goods on the peasantry. 



S48 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

The writer's attention was first drawn to the Ger- 
man's love of titles in 1903, by Judge Baldwin, 
American Consul in Nuremberg. Mr. Baldwin has 
died since that time, so the author is free to refer 
to the many conversations which he had with a very 
respected friend. 

In talking of titles Judge Baldwin expressed the 
opinion that the average German, will sell his soul 
for an empty title, and cited a case to prove his point. 
Up till the year 1901 no British Consul had been 
appointed in Nuremberg. Many local merchants 
were anxious to obtain the honour, for the title Her}' 
Consul is an asset from the business and social point 
of view. Among the applicants was a Jewish gentle- 
man named Herr Sigmund Ehrenbacher. As Herr 
Ehrenbacher had previously become a naturalized 
American subject, the English Foreign Office hesi- 
tated to give him the appointment. A compromise 
was made, on the lines that Herr Ehrenbacher had 
to renounce his American and revert to his German 
citizenship. Then he was made Honorary British 
Vice-Consul and held that post till his death in 19 14. 
The naturalization papers went through Judge Bald- 
win's consular office, and the American Consul felt 
that it exemplified very aptly the longing for titles in 
every German breast, i.e.^ American citizenship is not 
equal in value to the title Herr Consul. 

About four years ago Mr. Winston Churchill 
visited Nuremberg, and was Herr Ehrenbacher's 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 249 

guest; after Mr. Churchill's return to this country 
our American-German-British VIce-Consul was made 
a full British Consul. He told the writer that the 
promotion had followed on Mr. Churchill's recom- 
mendation. At the same time a clerk (Herr Simon) 
in Herr Ehrenbacher's office was appointed Acting 
British VIce-Consul, and if the writer may give cre- 
dence to both the Consul and Vice-Consul, then Herr 
Ehrenbacher obtained his appointment from the 
English Foreign Office In 1901 through the influence 
of Jewish friends In this country.^ 

The foregoing considerations suffice to show that 
there is method in the seeming madness of the Ger- 
man State In scattering honours during peace and 
iron crosses in war-time. 

It is easy to understand that the inhabitants of 
German villages are moved at the sight of an Iron 
cross on the breast of a brawny son of the soil. The 
writer wishes by no means to depreciate the act of 
valour which won the honour, but merely to point out 
that the Victoria Cross is awarded for unique deeds 
of bravery, while the German cross is awarded for 
acts which we consider a part of a soldier's everyday 
duties. By this method the War Office at Berlin rec- 
ognizes individual service, incites individual efforts, 
and exercises a moral Influence on the people at home. 
It Is an astute exploitation of human nature, a depart- 

2 The question of German British Consuls in various countries is 
discussed at length on page 341. 



250 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

ment in which the German State is a supreme adept. 
It is successful at home, and has been extensively, em- 
ployed in Germany's dealings with England. It in- 
cludes Friendship Committees, Hague Conferences, 
visits from deputations representing the German 
Church, interviews with Daily Telegraph correspond- 
ents, hospitality to English delegates in Germany, 
and all the other deceptions which some people in this 
country expected would bring about a lasting peace 
and friendship between the two great Germanic peo- 
ples. 

The German State knew that just as in Germany, 
so, too, in England there are ill-informed people 
who will run after any phantom or defend any crack- 
brained idea, if it only transforms their natural in- 
significance into some sort of public importance^ 
For the last decade the German State has piped to 
this section of the English public — and they have 
danced. They may be forgiven for what occurred 
in ignorance during peace-time, but that these mis- 
guided people continue to dance to the Berlin tune 
during war-time is a different matter. 

In this section the writer includes all the pacifists 
who told England that Germany wanted peace, and 
he includes the Members of Parliament who visited 
Germany, but could not speak a word of German, a 
fact which made their tours through the Fatherland 
a farce. It is no crime not to learn German, but it is 
charlatanism of the worst kind to pose as an author- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 251 

Ity on a country of which you are entirely ignorant. 
In 1907 the writer was invited by the burgomaster 
of Nuremberg to certain festivities in honour of a 
party of English M.P.'s. Only one gentleman was 
able to speak German — Sir John Gorst. The party 
had an excellent reception In various German cities; 
they were toasted and feasted — and laughed at by 
their German hosts! The Germans were playing 
the game called Baiiemfdngerei, and they evidently 
caught some victims. Since that date Mr. Chlozza 
Money has posed In the Daily News as an authority 
on Germany, yet In 1907 he knew nothing of the 
German language or nation. Another M.P. In the 
party boasted that he had been the first to use Ger- 
man black bread and sausages as an election dodge. 
Some years previously a friend had sent him these ar- 
ticles, and he had filled a window In his constituency 
with black bread and so on. Of course, he won the 
seat, and after practising Bauernfdngerei on English 
people, visited the Fatherland to let Germans amuse 
themselves at the same game. 

Furthermore, It Is Instructive for voters to learn 
that candidates for parliamentary honours talked 
fluently about Germany, In support of Free Trade or 
Tariff Reform, without having studied Germany ex- 
cept In the Consular Reports sent to this country by 
German-British Consuls. 

In peace-times there were Englishmen who made 
a large section of the public believe that they knew 



252 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

and understood the German problem — the war hag 
shown them up in their true character — charlatans ! 

Since the outbreak of war a small contingent of 
the charlatan party continues its endeavours to mis- 
lead the British public. Part of the propaganda (the 
aim of which is to arouse sympathy for Germany) , 
consists in pleading for generosity towards the Ger- 
man people and hate for the German army. Here, 
again, their motives are good but their ignorance 
appalling. 

Messrs. Keir Hardie and Ramsay Macdonald are 
In this contingent, while Mr. Bernard Shaw seems 
to be mixed up In It, in spite of his denials. The 
writer sympathizes with Mr. Shaw, because all the 
third and fourth class German theatres which pro- 
duced his Mrs. Warren^s Profession, etc., etc., are 
now closed. The war has closed, for the time be- 
ing, what must have been a good market for Mr. 
Shaw's wares. Is this why some of his sympathies 
are on the other side of the North Sea ? Are sym- 
pathy and self-interest identical? Still, there is some 
consolation for Mr. Shaw In the fact that German 
newspapers are now calling him the " Upright Man." 
Germans have admired our Social Democratic play- 
wright for a long time. 

The writer has heard more than one German state 
that England had produced only three writers since 
the year 1800, and those are Lord Byron, Oscar 
Wilde and G. B. Shaw. In any case, the three 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 253 

names, if properly arranged, form ein schones Klee- 
Z?/^/^ (a pretty Shamrock-leaf). 

For more than a decade Oscar Wilde and Mr. 
Shaw have had the honour of having their works 
produced in German third and fourth-class theatres 
more often than any other English dramatists. 
Theatres like the Intimes Theater, in Nuremberg — 
a dirty little theatre in a dirty little street, where 
dirty little plays are produced for the delectation of 
German lieutenants in mufti out for the evening with 
a Verhdltnis. 

But there is every reason to believe that the 
Fatherland's shady theatres will reopen after the 
war, therefore if Mr. Shaw has any loss it can only 
be temporary, and personal loss is no reason either 
for pro-German sympathies or anti-English senti- 
ments. 

Returning to the question of the German army and 
nation, it is satisfactory to note that some English- 
men know and understand them better than the Ger- 
mans themselves. The Englishmen in question say 
— you must separate the German army from the 
German people, love the one and hate the other. 
Germans do not admit this divisibility; Teutons main- 
tain that the army and people are one and the same 
thing. 

It may be advisable to hear a few Germans in or- 
der to settle the point. Professor Delbriick, writing 
in " Das preussische Jahrbuch," 19 12, p. 169: " To- 



254 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

day the army is the people and the people the 
army." 

Count Lorlngboren, Commander of the 22nd Di- 
vision in the Prussian Army, in his book, " The Fun- 
damentals of Military Success" (Berlin, 1914), 
writes: "A modern war must be popular. When 
everybody, down to the last man in the nation, is 
convinced that the honour and existence of the Fa- 
therland are at stake, then an army, which is the 
nation in arms, will perform wonders." 

Herr von Biilow, at that time Imperial Chancel- 
lor, addressing the Reichstag in 1901, said: ^' In no 
country in the world are the army and people so 
closely united as in Germany. When we say the 
army is the German nation in arms, that is not an 
empty phrase, but the simple truth. Therefore it 
follows of a necessity that he who insults the Ger- 
man army insults the German people." 

A whole literature, including many popular illus- 
trated works, has been published in Germany under 
the title " Das Volk in Waff en " (" The Nation in 
Arms ") . All Germans would be amused at any at- 
tempt to separate them, and still the gentlemen al- 
ready named, and correspondents in the Christian 
World, have been endeavouring for months past to 
convince England that the German army and people 
are not one and the same. Having danced to Ger- 
man Bauernfdngerei music before the war, they are 
even now not content with having been duped and in 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 255 

having duped others; new phrases are quickly in- 
vented to cover their shame, and they begin to scream 
*' war against war," the " destruction of Prussian- 
ism," yet there is no evidence that they have informed 
themselves in the meantime as to the nature of Prus- 
sianism. Before the war they led by ignorance, 
and they are proceeding again to find dupes for the 
second phase of their ignorance. 

This should be sufficient answer to the sentimen- 
talists who would see the German people loved. 
The crime of this aggressive war does not lie at the 
Kaiser's door, but the German nation individually 
and collectively are guilty of the bloodshed in battle 
and the murders and rapes in the towns and villages 
of Belgium, Poland and Northern France. 

Freedom of speech is a priceless jewel of which 
Englishmen are justly proud, but it can be abused, 
and it has never been more abused than during the 
last dozen years by those Englishmen who have 
talked about a great country (Germany) without 
having troubled to study the elements of the ques- 
tion on which they talked so glibly. The result of 
'[ their ignorance, charlatanism and open abuse of 
their right to free speech is this: Many thousands, 
perhaps hundreds of thousands, of Englishmen must 
sleep their last sleep on the blood-stained battlefields 
of Europe. As usual, the charlatans remain in se- 
curity and invent new wiles, while the victims of their 
ante-war Bauernfdngerei are being shot and bayonet- 



256 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

ted to make good the evil caused by a fatal combina- 
tion of ignorance and freedom of speech. 

There is one other item of Bauernfdngerei to 
discuss, and that is the unity of the German people 
in this world struggle. This has been achieved by 
the Prince of Bauernf anger — the German Kaiser. 

In the quotation from the work of a German 
general given above, the principle is laid down that 
the nation must be convinced to the last man of the 
justice of their cause. That condition is fulfilled in 
the case of the German nation to-day; they are united 
and enthusiastic in support of the war. 

For years the Kaiser has astutely cultivated the 
reputation for being a religious and peace-loving 
monarch. The Germah nation believed that to be 
his true character — it was merely Bauernfdngerei. 
In consequence the nation was predisposed to believe 
that the Kaiser would never begin a war, therefore 
the Germans believed him when he said that he did 
not want war and that Germany was not the ag- 
gressor. From the window of the imperial palace 
he told his people to go to church and pray (July 
31st, 1 9 14). Since that date the Deity has been 
invoked on numerous occasions and the German peo- 
ple again and again assured that God is on their 
side. Rather than discuss this point the writer pre- 
fers to leave it for the Kaiser to settle with the 
Almighty himself; religion is a matter for the indi- 
vidual conscience. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY S5T 

It IS, however, noteworthy that the German peo- 
ple accept their monarch's assurances. The Kaiser 
has convinced them that their hearths and homes are 
in the greatest danger, but he conceals the fact that 
he himself endangered them. They believe his ver- 
sion and are prepared to defend them. He has told 
his people that England engineered this war in order 
to annihilate Germany; but the Kaiser is again guilty 
of suppressio veri, for he neglects to inform his sub- 
jects that England offered Germany friendship ^ and 
that the present Government possibly exceeded the 
limits of common sense in its humane endeavours to 
guarantee the world's peace. His subjects believe 
him implicitly and are united in an unjust cause, 
which Is the supreme triumph of Bauernfdngerei. 

To-day the aggressors believe they are the 
attacked, the brutal believe themselves to be the 
standard-bearers of the highest culture, the war- 
worshippers are convinced that they are lambs un- 
justly torn by the dogs of war, and, lastly, the 
materialistic pagan nation adores itself as the instru- 
ment of God! Nothing other than the magnetic 
personality of Kaiser Wilhelm II could have 
achieved this masterpiece of hypnotism. 

Those who employ doubtful means in pursuance 

■^Dr. Paul Michaelis, in his work, "Von Bismarck bis Beth- 
mann " (Berlin, 1911), writes, on p. 129: "Thereby we may not 
overlook the fact that the English Government has repeatedly 
stretched out the hand of friendship to us in order to arrive at an 
agreement." 



^58 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

of more doubtful ends, often accuse the other side 
with using the same methods ; hence it is not surpris- 
ing to find Enghsh offers of friendship called Bauern- 
f anger el by Germans. Mr. Churchill's attempts to 
conciliate Germany on the naval question were con- 
sidered " sharp practice " in the Fatherland. In the 
April number of " Das preussische Jahrbuch," 19 12, 
it is openly conceded that Germans looked upon Mr. 
Churchill's efforts as Bauernfdngerei. 

The present writer believes that the whole of the 
English cabinet desired peace and did everything 
which was humanly possible to avoid a conflict, but 
he never met a German, high or low, who shared his 
opinion. In England (as well as in other countries) 
the German State has " inspired " the opinion that 
Germans loved peace and desired nothing else. 
The same State has told its own subjects that Eng- 
land wanted war and was using the most fiendish 
methods to bring about war. In England the German 
State preached peace and found dupes to echo the 
dulcet notes of the Lorelei ; within her own territories 
she taught that war is salvation, and she prepared for 
war down to the letter Z in the military alphabet. 

The semi-official announcement made in the Co- 
logne Gazette for August ist, 19 14, that Germany 
had no idea of violating Belgian neutrality was also 
a confidence trick, but that example pales into insig- 
nificance when compared with the one attempted in 
Berlin on the British Ambassador and by Prince 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 259 

Lichnowskl in London.^ England was assured that 
if she remained neutral and France was overthrown, 
then Germany would only demand territory outside 
Europe, i.e., French colonies. Supposing that Eng- 
land had pursued that course, and supposing that 
Germany had conquered France without marching 
through Belgium, then how could England have pre- 
vented Germany from annexing French provinces or 
Belgium and Holland? This was undoubtedly Ger- 
many's hope, and because England intervened Ger- 
many knew that her immediate hope of making 
herself paramount in Europe was frustrated. The 
Bauernfdngerei of annexing only French colonies 
failed. Germany intended to annex French prov- 
inces, including Burgundy. 

The author of the secret report to the Kaiser, 
given in full in the " French Yellow Book," ex- 
pressly states that after France is overthrown *' We 
shall then remember that the provinces of the old 
German Empire, the county of Burgundy and a large 
portion of Lorraine are still in the hands of the 
Franks, that thousands of our German brothers of 
the Baltic provinces groan under the yoke of the 
Slav. It is a national matter to give back to Ger- 
many what she formerly possessed." 

^ When Prince Lichnowskl was appointed Ambassador to the 
Court of St. James, Germans laughed at the Kaiser's ruse in send- 
ing a man to London who had English sympathies. It was consid- 
ered a good trick to keep the English quiet till German preparations 
were more advanced. 



S60 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

i- 

The programme is not new. On two occasions 
when speaking in the Reichstag Prince Bismarck said 
the next war with France would be saigner a hlanc ^ 
(till the blood runs white). France was to be 
smashed for ever and her fairest provinces joined to 
the German Empire. On July 25th, 19 14, the 
writer spent the evening with some half-dozen pro- 
fessors from Erlangen University. Among them 
was Dr. Beckmann, professor of history. This was 
the evening on which the Austrian ultimatum expired 
and considerable excitement prevailed. Professor 
Beckmann expressed the opinion that the ultimatum 
had been worded in such a manner as to make war 
Inevitable. Germany wanted war, the time had at 
last arrived for saigner a hlanc. He was perfectly 
correct in his supposition. The subject of the next 
war with France had often been discussed in our 
weekly meetings, and the opinion was unanimous that 
Burgundy and Lorraine would be taken from 
France, but the methods would be different from 
those used in 1870. "We shall drive out every 
French subject and fill the conquered provinces with 
German settlers. Then we shall not have a difficult 
population to govern, as is the case In the provinces 
annexed by Bismarck In 1870.'' 

6 This Bismarckian piece of bullying is quoted in " Das preussische 
Jahrbuch," 1897, page 475, as an argument in favour of building a 
great German fleet. Every educated German knows the phrase, 
and all have looked forward to the saigner-a-blanc war with 
France. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY S61 

The writer has heard the same views expressed 
among all classes of Germans, including army offi- 
cers. Fortunately the confidence trick was played 
without success against Sir Edward Goschen and the 
London Cabinet. 

Germany has tried her Bauernfdngerei on the 
other side of the Atlantic. It commenced when 
Prince Henry — the Kaiser's brother — visited the 
United States a few years ago. The customary ef- 
fusive, superficial politeness has been lavished 
upon distinguished Americans when visiting Berlin. 
Americans were welcome in Germany because they 
spent money freely — German Michael loves money. 

The writer doubts, however, that Americans were 
more sincerely respected than the English; press 
comments and conversations with the man in the 
street support the opposite theory. A Munich hu- 
morist dubbed the Americans der zahlende Mob 
(the paying mob), and this coarse witticism was 
copied from a Munich comic paper into half the 
papers in the Fatherland. The writer has heard it 
quoted with gusto on many occasions ; it has, in fact, 
become the popular name for Uncle Sam, like Stock- 
Engldnder (stupid, obstinate Englishman) is the 
everyday phrase for the sons of Albion. 

With the commencement of the war, however, 
Herr Dernburg & Co. began another Bauernfdngerei 
campaign in the United States which may be safely 
left to the judgment of American common sense. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE KAISER OF KULTUR 

THE author takes up this part of his task with a 
certain amount of diffidence. It is not easy 
to learn anything which is new concerning Germany's 
** very Highest War Lord " {Allerhochster Kriegs- 
herr) ; if the Kaiser is mentioned in public all eyes 
are at once turned upon the speaker and Germans 
assume a waiting, listening attitude. The Emperor 
may say what he likes — sense or nonsense — and 
the law protects both his person and his utterances 
from any drastic form of criticism. At the same 
time the law makes it impossible for citizens, high or 
low, to say what they think, when it is not of a flat- 
tering nature, concerning His Majesty. 

The writer is compelled for the most part to let 
the Kaiser speak for himself or to quote opinions 
from the works of influential Teutons. Only one 
episode of an intimate character came to the writer's 
ears. 

After returning from a visit to this country the 
Emperor was out shooting in East Prussia. One of 
the gentlemen in attendance accidentally dropped a 
small English flag which he had brought back from 
England. The Kaiser observed it and stamped on 

262 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 263 

it in blind rage, with the remark: " Eines Tages 
werde ich wirklich auf diese verfluchte Flagge 
treten " (" One day I shall really stamp on this ac- 
cursed flag"). The writer cannot vouch for the 
truth of the story, but he can conscientiously assert 
that it had currency in select circles and was believed 
to reflect the Emperor's true sentiments towards his 
mother's home. 

His ostentatious protestations of friendship were 
considered in all circles to be a diplomatic pose 
{Baiiernf anger ei) ^ and as such were tolerated. But 
if the pose took on an air of too much sincerity, there 
was immediately a national outcry. History itself 
proves that the Kaiser hates England. 

There can be no doubt, however, concerning his 
popularity in Prussia. In the home of reaction he 
is no longer a mere man, but an Apollo : — a god, 
sent by the great God. No observer could deny that 
His Majesty is an exceedingly clever man, versatile 
and charming. He is the incarnation of the na- 
tional character, and possesses in a marked degree 
the traits of a dazzling, fascinating, superficial per- 
sonality. In all exteriors he is perfection; Germans 
live for exteriors, and the imperial exteriors have 
captivated the popular imagination. 

The centre of the Kaiser's universe Is the Kaiser 

himself, and his romantic, ardent nature has led him 

to imagine himself to be the centre of the universe. 

jif this were not the case, then many of his utter- 



^64i THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

ances Become mystic and obscure in the extreme. 

As mentioned above, it is impossible to know any- 
thing of his private movements or convictions. We 
can only portray him as he presents himself to the 
public eye, or allows himself to be presented — on 
most occasions that is with sword and helm, or as 
he expressed it himself '^ in schimmernden Wehr ** 
(" in shining armour ") . We can only guess at the 
inner man by picturing his relation and attitude to 
the great questions and realities of life. 

To the Emperor the greatest reality is his high 
office, and that he is the right man in the right place 
he has not a shadow of a doubt. 

In a speech delivered in Konigsberg, he informed 
his hearers: " Here my grandfather set the crown 
of Prussia upon his head, thereby emphasizing once 
more that it was given him by God's grace alone — 
and not by Parliaments, National Assemblies, or Na- 
tional Committees. Thus he made known to the 
v/orld that he considered himself an instrument 
chosen by heaven, and as such performed the func- 
tions of a king and monarch. Adorned with this 
crown he went into the field and added to it the 
Kaiser's crown." 

The Emperor gives his unquestioning allegiance 
to the doctrine of divine right, and he has made 
many efforts to convince his subjects of the sacred- 
ness of his person and the divine origin of his mis- 
sion. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 265 

" It is a tradition of our house to consider our- 
selves as enthroned by God," he exclaimed on 
another occasion. In the same year (1890) he 
wrote in the " Golden Book of Munich " : " Su- 
prema lex regis voluntas." In the *' Imperial Gol- 
den Book" he wrote on November 19th, 1899: 
*' The king is of God's grace, therefore he is only 
responsible to the Lord. He may only choose his 
path and duties from this point of view. That is 
kingship by divine right. No mere man, no Min- 
ister, no Parliament, no people can free him from his 
never-ceasing, everlasting cares and duties, and their 
awful responsibility to the Creator alone." 

The Kaiser seems keenly alive to the duties of 
his high office, for he often talks of them. " I shall 
go my way, which is devoted to the well-being and 
peaceful development of our Fatherland. Consid- 
ering myself as God's instrument, I shall pay no at- 
tention to the views and opinions of the day." — 
Konigsberg, August 25 th, 19 10. 

" I look upon my country as a talent entrusted to 
me by God, which it is my duty to increase. I intend 
to husband my talent like the good husbandman, 
hence I hope to add a few more to it. Those who 
will help me in this work are heartily welcome — 
whoever they be ; those who oppose me I will smash." 
— Banquet of the Brandenburg Provincial Diet, 
March 5th, 1890. 

The latter speech is of great interest at a moment 



^66 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

when the Kaiser has added Luxembourg, Belgium 
and a part of Poland to his country. Three talents 
added — temporarily! Further, he has kept his 
royal word and smashed Belgium, which opposed the 
" adding " process. 

Even a quarter of a century ago, It would seem 
that the Kaiser's thoughts were directed towards the 
acquisition of French provinces or colonies — Ger- 
man expansion. 

Throughout, the Emperor Is consistent In his 
claim of special relationship to God. This Is a 
question which cannot be discussed. The Kaiser's 
vociferations that God appointed him are merely a 
projection of his Inner consciousness, and must be 
the result of either Gross enwahn (swelled-head and 
self-deception) ; Bauernfdngerei (the confidence- 
trick) ; or sincere conviction. The writer is unable 
to prove either of these hypotheses, and prefers to 
leave them as such; yet there is an interesting side 
which may not be overlooked. 

We have in these imperial utterances the Kaiser's 
estimation of himself, which we are free to accept 
or reject. That is not true in regard to his own 
subjects; they must accept the valuation which he 
places upon himself. 

We may classify the Kaiser's claim to divine au- 
thority with the claims made by Smythe-Piggot, but 
Germans must admit It — or at least maintain a dis- 
creet silence. It is easy to get inside a German 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 26T 

prison ! The Social Democrats have done good, by 
cautious work, in exposing this arrant nonsense that 
God has chosen the Hohenzollerns, etc., ad nauseam. 
Such revolting claims only compel " the man in the 
street " to revise his ideas on the intelligence of a 
God who could make such a choice. 

England has no right to play the role of Oliver 
Cromwell within German territories, but when these 
Ideas are employed to arouse the enthusiasm of mil- 
lions of " kultured " brute-men and to give divine 
sanction to the Kaiser's crimes against humanity, 
then It Is high time for the supreme frivolity of di- 
vine right of kings to be smashed from the interna- 
tional point of view, just as the Puritans destroyed 
it within national limits. 

A doctrine which was a curse within a nation, 
becomes a vastly greater curse when it is an inspiring 
motive for a monarch and his people in International 
dealings. 

The Kaiser has himself laid down the limits of 
national liberty, which comprise the same freedom 
accorded to Hottentots In Africa and far less free- 
dom than the United States has granted to coloured 
subjects. *' Freedom of thought, freedom In reli- 
gion and freedom for scientific research — that is the 
liberty which I wish for the German people and 
which I would fight to obtain for them; but not the 
liberty to govern themselves badly, as they like." — 
Speech delivered in Gorlitz, November 28th, 1902. 



268 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

It will be observed that the Emperor care- 
fully excludes freedom of speech and political lib- 
erty. 

The Bavarian peasant grants the swine which he 
fattens for market the same degree of freedom ; the 
pig In the sty may think as it likes and stir up the 
mire in " scientific research; " but there its activities 
end till the time comes for its slaughter. The 
Kaiser has kept his subjects on a similar level, till 
the moment for international slaughter arrived. 

On more than one occasion he begged those who 
were not content with his order of things to leave 
the country which God gave to him alone. " The 
world belongs to the living, and the living are right. 
I will not tolerate pessimists or men not suited to 
work. If they like then can go In search of a better 
land." — September 9th, 1906. 

Such language makes one wonder what would 
have happened to Messrs. Keir Hardie, Ramsay 
Macdonald and G. B. Shaw If fate had kindly ar- 
ranged their birth as German subjects. Would they 
have grown up Into meek, passive German subjects 
of the Kaiser, with brutal Instincts against their fel- 
low-men, like their comrades, the German Social 
Democrats ? Or would they — all three rolled into 
one — have sufficed to make a German Oliver Crom- 
well? The writer doubts the latter proposition, be- 
cause these gentlemen are talkers under conditions 
where there Is no danger to a hair of their heads, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 269 

while Oliver Cromwell was a man of action amid the 
greatest dangers to life and limb. 

Although the Kaiser, according to his report, ob- 
tained his crown direct from God, he places little 
confidence. Indeed, In the power or the will of the 
Almighty to maintain his rights to It. The right to 
govern Is of divine origin, but the means and meth- 
ods to rule are earthly. A divine crown cannot 
remain suspended in mid-air, therefore the Kaiser 
lays great weight upon the army as its support. 

It was not chance but sagacity which led the 
German Emperor, on his succession to the throne, 
to address his two first proclamations to the army 
and navy; his third pronouncement was to the Ger- 
man people. 

In his endeavours to convince the army of the 
righteousness of his authority, the Kaiser shrinks 
from nothing. Again and again he reiterates the 
necessity for a soldier to be pious and repeat his 
paternosters, but In spite of all that, he must, at the 
command of his War Lord, attack In blind obedi- 
ence, and if mother and father, brother and sister 
are against him, he must murder even them — for 
the honour of the War Lord. 

At Potsdam, November 23rd, 1891, the Kaiser, 
in addressing young soldiers after taking the oath of 
fidelity, said: 

*' You have sworn fidelity to me; that means, chil- 
dren of my Guard, you are now soldiers and have 



270 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

to submit to me, body and soul. For you there is 
only one enemy, and that is my enemy. It can hap- 
pen in consequence of the present socialistic agita- 
tion, that I shall command you to shoot down your 
own relations, brothers — even parents — - which, 
God forbid; but even then you would have to obey 
my command." 

An extract from another effusion in the same year 
runs: "The soldier and the army have made the 
German Empire — not parliamentary majorities. 
My trust is in the army." ^ 

Another quotation Is from a speech to recruits on 
November i6th, 1893 : " I want Christian soldiers 
who say the Lord's Prayer. The soldier must not 
have his will, but you must all have one will, and 
that is my will. There Is only one law, and that Is 
my law." 

The Kaiser's relationship to his army, so clearly 
laid down In these utterances, exposes another of the 
essential evils which have led up to the present war. 
An autocrat who claims to be God's chosen instru- 
ment has under his supreme command a nation In 
arms which can probably put ten million men in the 
field. 

This monarch believes that he Is subject to one 
law alone — his own will. He has announced it to 
be his sacred duty to add several talents to the one 
(Germany) which God entrusted to him. We will 

1 Not in God, on this occasion. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 271 

not discuss the question " Who gave the Kaiser this 
unlimited power? " We may even grant his claim 
that God gave it to him, but it concerns humanity 
very nearly as to how he has employed it. Within 
his empire he has used it to bolster up medievalism 
and crass injustice — that is a matter for the German 
people to settle with him. Further, he has used his 
might to grab other nations' talents in the present 
war of aggression. 

It is known that Germany was responsible for the 
ultimatum to Servia; it has been proved that Ger- 
many alone prevented Russia and Austria from com- 
ing to terms. When the crisis became acute the 
Kaiser was on a holiday tour in Norway; educated 
Germans, including officers, freely expressed the 
opinion that he only went there as a blind- — to 
deepen the impression on his people that he had 
nothing to do with it. 

On July 25th, Dr. Spuler, professor of anatomy 
at Erlangen University and an officer of the reserve, 
told the writer that he had received his orders and 
war was certain. At that moment the ultimatum 
to Servia had not expired. King Ludwig of Ba- 
varia was to have visited Erlangen on July 27th — 
the visit was cancelled by telegraph on July 
25th. 

On Sunday, July 26th, the garrison in Erlangen 
received twenty-four hours' leave of absence to visit 
their friends. During the following days reservists 



272 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

began to pour Into the barracks, but in a manner 
which would escape observation. The men were 
ordered to present themselves at various hours of the 
day; literally they came in like stragglers, and after 
Monday evening of July 27th no one was permitted 
to leave the barracks. The writer heard this from 
friends living opposite to the buildings in question, 
and also through the correspondence of a sergeant in 
the barracks. 

On July 27th at 10 p.m. the writer saw a reserve 
officer in khaki going to the barracks, and on 
Thursday morning he met a former Erlangen stu- 
dent (Hans Schlund), a married man living In 
Coburg. He informed the writer that he belonged 
to the Ersatz-Reserve (substitute reserves, about the 
fourth line of reserves), and that he had to be In 
the barracks at 10 a.m. The gentleman In ques- 
tion is over thirty years of age, and the Incident Is 
a striking proof that Germany's mobilization was on 
July 30th in a very advanced stage, otherwise it 
would have been ridiculous for a man of that class 
to be joining his regiment. Further, It must not be 
overlooked that he had travelled a considerable dis- 
tance, which shows that the order calling him up 
must have been issued several days before. 

Meanwhile the press was full of alarmist reports 
concerning Russia's mobilization, and on Wednes- 
day, July 29th, two Berlin editors were thrown into 
prison for reporting the mobilization of the i6th and 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 273 

17th army corps. It all meant that the Kaiser was 
after the extra talents. 

Mr. Asqulth has said that the sword shall not be 
sheathed till Prussianism is broken. We all hope to 
see that end attained, but the greatest lesson to be 
learned from the present struggle is this: The 
armed forces of Germany must be under popular 
control in future, not under the control of a divine- 
right Kaiser. It must never be possible again for a 
German ruler to declare war and then summon a 
parliament. 

Oliver Cromwell taught his country a great lesson, 
and it is England's imperative duty to teach that 
lesson to Germany and as far as possible to other 
existing autocracies. 

The writer does not believe that this will be the 
last war on earth; but he believes that if armaments 
are under popular control, wars may be reduced to 
a minimum. 

Another principle which our Statesmen should 
strive to establish is, that those who provoked the 
war should be made personally responsible. Crimi- 
nals are punished to meet the ends of justice and to 
restrain others with like tendencies. If the German 
autocracy. Including the Kaiser and Crown Prince, 
receive punishment commensurate with their crimes^ 
that will act as a deterrent to all autocratic rulers for 
generations, perhaps for ever. 

History shows that it is generally the masses which 



^74 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

must endure all the bitter harvest of war; but if this 
war establishes the principle that monarchs, who 
unsheathe the sword under the banner of divine 
right, can and will be called to the bar of humanity, 
then the bloodshed will not have been in vain. 

This is no time for mincing words ; the Kaiser and 
Crown Prince, aided and abetted by the General 
Staff in Berlin, are guilty of the foulest crime In his- 
tory, and if they cannot personally be made respon- 
sible and punished, then it would have been better 
for England not to enter the war, to accept dishon- 
our and await her final absorption into the German 
Empire — as one of the Kaiser's *' other talents." 

It has been pointed out in another chapter that 
the Kaiser excludes all clergymen from the political 
arena, and one more quotation will suffice to illustrate 
his attitude to religion. Addressing an assembly in 
the monastery at Beuron In November, 19 lo, he used 
these words : " I expect you to support me In my en- 
deavours to preserve religion for the nation. The 
governments of Christian princes can only be con- 
ducted according to the teachings of the Lord. They 
should help to strengthen the religious feeling which 
is innate in Germans, and to Increase reverence for 
Church and Throne. Both these belong together 
and cannot be separated." 

The great party of " enlightenment " and freedom 
'( ?) aroused the Kaiser's deepest anger. What the 
Kaiser felt he generally expressed In words, and his 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 275 

attacks on the Social Democratic party contain some 
of his bitterest diatribes. 

The writer Is In agreement with some of the Im- 
perial strictures on that party, although he holds 
they are quite out of place on the lips of a monarch. 

To a deputation of colliers In May, 1889, the Em- 
peror said: " Every Socialist, in my opinion, means 
an enemy to Empire and Fatherland. They are 
the Fatherlandless enemies of the divine order of 
things." As a prophet the Kaiser has been singu- 
larly unfortunate, for In 1899 ^^ expressed the opin- 
ion that Social Democracy Is only a passing phenome- 
non. Each successive election since that year has 
been a proof of the folly of his prophecy. Over the 
grave of the late Herr Krupp he charged the Socialist 
party with Krupp's murder.^ 

Another deputation of workmen was received by 
the Kaiser at Breslau on December 12th, 1902, and 
listened to the following oration: 

" For years you and your German brothers have 
allowed yourselves to be held by the agitators of the 
Socialists In the mad belief that If you do not belong 
to their party, you are not respected, and are not In 
a position to obtain a hearing for your just demands 
towards the bettering of your condition. That Is a 

2 The Social Democratic press charged Herr Krupp with un- 
natural offences against morality. Officially it was announced that 
the " libels " had hastened his death. Report said that he had 
committed suicide so that his mode of life in his Italian villa 
should not be exposed in a court of law. 



:g76 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

vile lie and an error. Instead of representing you 
in a disinterested way, these agitators have only 
stirred up strife against your employers, against the 
other social classes and against the Throne and Al- 
tar. At the same time they have exploited you in a 
most unscrupulous manner, terrorized and enslaved 
you in order to increase their power. You can have 
nothing more to do with such men or allow your- 
selves to be led by them. Send simple comrades out 
of your own midst into parliament and they will be 
welcome." 

The Kaiser's methods when dealing v/ith the Prus- 
sian nobility are of a very different kind. His policy 
has been to treat the army as the first and the Junkers 
as the second pillar supporting his power. Any dif- 
ferences between himself and the aristocracy have al- 
ways been settled in the spirit of domestic quarrels. 

On one such occasion the Kaiser said that opposi- 
tion to their king on the part of this powerful class 
was an absurdity. He appealed to them not to fly to 
arms in political opposition, but to approach him in 
confidence. " My door is always open to every one 
of my subjects, and I gladly listen to them. For the 
future let that be your way, and everything which has 
happened previous to this I consider as blotted out of 
remembrance." It is indeed another tone to the one 
employed in dealing with his opponents. 

But to Englishmen the most interesting side of the 
Emperor's must be his attitude to the naval question, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 27T 

for to us that is a matter of existence. The entire 
movement of naval expansion was begun and engi- 
neered by Kaiser Wilhelm, and whether the German 
fleet brings fortune or misfortune to the German peo- 
ple, they have to thank their Kaiser. It was he 
who converted first the Junkers and then the Social 
Democrats to his plans. His Insatiable vanity and 
misguided ambition have been the prime forces which 
have brought about a conflict with England. " It 
IS no exaggeration to assert that Kaiser Wilhelm 11. 
had already taken a firm resolution when he ascended 
the throne to create for the German Empire a great 
fleet." ^ This Is no empty compliment paid by ant 
imperial satellite, but weighty words from the pen^ 
of an able naval and political writer. 

When the Kaiser succeeded to the crown Count 
Caprivi, a layman, was at the head of the German 
Admiralty. The new Emperor's first step was to 
remove Caprivi and replace him by a naval oflicer,, 
Vice-Admiral Count Monts. His predecessor's 
policy had been aimed at defending Germany's coasts. 
The new minister immediately broke with this tra- 
dition. His first step, under orders from the Kaiser^ 
was to present a bill to the Reichstag demanding four 
high-seas battleships; therewith Caprlvi's coast-de- 
fence idea was definitely and finally abandoned and 
the first step taken towards building Germany's fleet. 

3 " Deutschland's Auswartlge Politik " ("Germany's Foreiga 
Policy"), 1888-1913, by Count Reventlow, p. 57. 



^78 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

On July 14th, 1888, the Kaiser reviewed the fleet 
at Kiel, and for the first time in history a German 
Emperor and Prussian King appeared there in ad- 
miral's uniform. 

As Count Reventlow remarks, there were various 
hindrances which prevented the immediate realiza- 
tion of the imperial schemes. Among others, there 
were the conditions in the Reichstag, the large num- 
ber of parties and their irreconcilability; in the nation 
there was no knowledge or understanding for the 
naval question; and lastly the clumsy representation 
in the parliament by the Kaiser's ministers. Against 
all these the Emperor battled with vigour and per- 
sistency. But the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond 
Jubilee brought a crisis. 

Prince Henry, the Kaiser's brother, was sent to 
represent Germany at the festivities in London. 
The ship which was to bring the Prince to the English 
coast was, in the Kaiser's opinion, unworthy of the 
occasion and of Germany. On April 4th, 1897, the 
Kaiser telegraphed to his royal brother. " I regret 
exceedingly that I cannot put a better ship at your 
disposal for this celebration, especially when all other 
countries are represented by their finest warships. It 
is a sad consequence of the manoeuvres of those un- 
patriotic persons who have prevented the construc- 
tion of even the most necessary ships of war. But 
I shall know no rest, till I have placed our navy 
on a par for strength with our army." 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 279 

This clever thrust at his enemies was followed up 
in the same year by two steps of far greater Impor- 
tance. Firstly the Kaiser had charts and statistics 
prepared comparing the fleets of the world, and had 
them sent to all the larger German towns. Sec- 
ondly Admiral von Tirpltz was appointed to the Ad- 
miralty on June 15th, 1897, and a new era began. 
The new minister's policy is expressed In the word 
Risikogedanke, of which the alleged underlying prin- 
ciple Is: Germany's fleet should be so strong that no 
other power, not even the greatest, would dare to 
attack her without running the gravest risks. 

It Is only another Teutonic confidence trick, a dip- 
lomatic way of expressing her ambition for naval 
supremacy. If the German fleet Is to be strong 
enough to threaten *' grave risk " to England, then It 
must be nearly on an equality, and from that stage 
it is easy to proceed to one of equality, and finally 
to superiority. 

Von TIrpItz's phrase " risk policy " was merely an 
official diplomatic term to lull suspicions In England, 
for Germany could not use a term defining naval 
projects beyond that limit. Any more expressive 
term would have been of a necessity an open threat 
to England, of which Germans knew quite well the 
consequences. But what von Tirpltz omitted to say 
in his diplomatic fiction (a fiction meant to smooth 
over German opponents to naval expansion, as well 
as to blind the English) other Germans said for him. 



^80 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

The German Navy League, the Pan-German agi- 
tators, a large section of the German press, and even 
the "man In the street," said quite openly: "We 
are prepared to make any sacrifices to obtain naval 
supremacy ; for without that our commerce is at Eng- 
land's mercy, a disgraceful and humiliating prospect 
for a nation in every way superior to England." 

Reventlow ^ writes in these words in regard to 
England: "The Kaiser's wish and determination 
to provide the German Empire with a great fleet is 
based upon an eminent political idea. He (the 
Kaiser) thought that till Germany possessed a great 
fleet, we Germans must endeavour to preserve good 
relations with England, and to that end it was neces- 
sary to make occasional concessions.^ 

" Within certain limits this policy was obvious. 
The Kaiser himself has given expression to the 
thoughts which were In his mind and directed his 
actions. On January i8th, 1896 (25th anniversary 
of the German Empire) , he said : ' A world empire 
has grown out of the German Empire. It is your 
solemn duty, gentlemen, to help me to bind this 
greater Germany to our native land.' The Kaiser's 
programme is the direct line of development of the 
-German Empire. It had to be drawn up and car- 
ried out." 

* Count Reventlow's " Deutschland's Auswartige Politik," p. 60. 

5 Germany would try to be friends with England till she had a 
great fleet. After she had the wished-for fleet, on what terms did 
<jermany intend to live with England? 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 281 

The Emperor has delivered many speeches during 
his reign, and he would be more than human if some 
seeming contradictions did not occur in them. While 
agitating for a greater fleet in 1901 he remarked: 
*' We have won our place in the sun, although we 
have not the fleet which we ought to possess." 

Generally, the necessity for a great fleet was en- 
forced by the argument that it was necessary in order 
to procure Germany's place in the sun. In the same 
speech Germany was provided with the now famous 
motto: " Our future is on the water." 

The echo of world power occurs occasionally in 
the imperial declamations; thus at Bremen on March 
23rd, 1905: ''By reason of my experience and 
knowledge of history, I have sworn never to strive 
after barren world domination. The world empire 
which I have imagined, shall consist in this — that 
above all, the newly- founded German Empire shall 
enjoy the unbounded confidence of everybody. Ger- 
many shall be looked upon as a quiet, honest, peaceful 
neighbour, so that if a future historian ever speaks 
of a German World Empire, or a Hohenzollern 
World Domination, he shall say it was not founded 
by conquest or the sword, but on mutual confidence 
between the nations striving after the same goal. 
Every German battleship which is launched is another 
guarantee for peace on earth, and our opponents will 
be all the less inclined to attack us, and we, all the 
more desirable as allies." 



282 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

It is to be regretted that the deeds to emphasize 
these eloquent words are remarkable by their ab- 
sence from the Kaiser's life. Their place has been 
taken by sabre-rattling and a bullying attitude to 
Germany's neighbours. He who wished to found 
a world empire on confidence should have shown 
confidence, but instead of placing trust in her neigh- 
bours, Germany has consistently preached the doc- 
trine — trust only your own arm of might. 

In order to offer conclusive proof that the Kaiser 
is the father of the German fleet and that his peo- 
ple look up to him as such, three more quotations 
from German sources will be given : 

" It will live in history how untiringly he has la- 
boured for the German fleet. The Kaiser first recog- 
nized the dawn of Weltpolitik, and drew the right 
conclusions for Germany. Innumerable are the 
speeches in which he has brought to the minds of 
his people: the growth of our nation, greater Ger- 
many; our future on the water, and the necessity 
of a great fleet. His labours have not been in 
vain." ^ 

" After the Empire had been founded, it was the 
present Kaiser who, with systematic endeavours and 
incessant energy, led the policy of the German Em- 
pire into new and splendid paths." '^ 

6 " Yearbook of Germany's Maritime Interests," by Nauticus, 
p. 134. Berlin, 1902. 

^"Politik und Seekrieg " ("Politics and Naval Warfare"), by 
Rudolf von Labres, p. 33. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 283 

In 19 13 the German Emperor completed the 
twenty-fifth year of his reign. To celebrate the 
event an imposing work ^ was published as a record 
of the Kaiser's work in building up the fleet. The 
authors are G. Wislicenus, a high official in the Ad- 
miralty, and Professor Stower, who supplied the in- 
troduction and illustrations. Stower is a marine 
painter, a close friend of the Kaiser's, whom he has 
accompanied on his annual journeys since 1904. 
Many of his paintings are in the Emperor's posses- 
sion, and many are owned by the Admiralty. In his 
introduction he writes: *' Looking far ahead, he 
created in this period the mighty, aspiring, respect- 
compelling German fleet, as his very own {ureigen) 
immortal work, and every German must thank the 
Kaiser that he has made the Fatherland a great naval 
power." 

It would be interesting to know the innermost 
thoughts of Germany's other reigning princes on the 
position which the German Emperor occupies in the 
Empire. He has taken unto himself the right to 
speak for all Germans, and in his imperial orations 
there is never any mention of his royal peers. In 
genuine German fashion it has been the Kaiser's aim 
to oust all other princes from the German political 
stage. 

Before the war he was not popular in either Ba- 

s" Kaiser Wilhelm und die Marine," 1913, by Stower and Wis- 
licenus. 



284^ THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

varia, Wiirttemburg or Saxony. The subjects of 
the various monarchs of these States wondered 
where their kings came in, when the Kaiser vocif- 
erated his claims to special appointment by God. 
More than once the writer has heard Germans in 
the three kingdoms named, fluently and forcibly con- 
demn the Kaiser's assumption that he is the only mon- 
arch in Germany who has the right to speak for Ger- 
many. But it was noticeable that they never spoke 
against the German Empire. All the States com- 
prising the Empire hold together as a matter of 
self-interest. 

The average Prussian's attitude to the other part- 
ners in the Confederation is one of tolerance and 
condescension. His head is so full of unser Kaiser 
that he is mildly surprised when the King of Bavaria 
is mentioned. From his lofty eminence he looks 
down upon der dumme Bayer (the stupid Bavarian) ; 
even a Prussian workman considers a Bavarian peas- 
ant or factory-hand a being essentially inferior to 
himself, and all the " brotherhood " doctrines of So- 
cial Democracy have failed to remove these mutual 
prejudices. It would, however, be an error to at- 
tach any political importance to them ; they are local 
hatreds. But the Kaiser has aroused gall and bitter- 
ness on more than one occasion by his interferences 
in purely Bavarian affairs. 

In 1902 the Bavarian Diet refused a vote for art 
purposes, whereon the Kaiser expressed himself as 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 285 

follows in a telegram to the Prince Regent: ''I 
have just returned from my journey, and read with 
the greatest indignation that the vote for purposes 
of art has been thrown out. I hasten to give ex- 
pression to my anger at the impudent thanklessness 
which this action shows both to the House of Wit- 
telsbach and to your sublime person. You have al- 
ways shone in an exemplary manner in all things con- 
cerning the promotion of art. At the same time I 
beg to offer the necessary sum out of my privy purse. 

; WiLHELM.'' 

A rich Bavarian nobleman paid the required sum 
and the Kaiser's offer was politely declined — to the 
joy of South Germany. But the fact remains that 
for imperial purposes all other kings and princes in 
the German Empire, are merely appendages of Prus- 
sia. 

In Treitschke's obituary notice written by Paul 
Bailleu, Keeper of the State Archives, in the German 
Review^ this paragraph occurs: "It was Hegel 
who solved the problem of the centuries and de- 
stroyed the antithesis between freedom and necessity 
In the State, in that he taught : the will which obeys 
the law only obeys itself, and that the law is nothing 
other than freedom determining itself." 

Fichte expressed a similar thought, which Treit- 
schke quotes to support his theory of State-craft: 

9 "Deutsche Rundschau," October, 1896. 
10 ''Die Politik," I., p. 32. 



10 



286 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

" The individual sees in his Fatherland the realiza- 
tion of his earthly immortality." 

When treating of Treitschke's State the writer 
pointed out that the actual German State consists 
of a coterie of individuals including the Kaiser. It 
is even permissible to consider the Kaiser as the 
State. From this point of view according to Hegel 
he is the sum-total of modern Germany. In any 
case he reflects and reproduces in himself the char- 
acteristics of the whole nation. 

There is nothing typical in an average German 
which we do not find projected on a larger scale in 
the Kaiser — except perhaps the moustache. But he 
represents in a remarkable degree German vanity and 
love of self-glorification. He is a past-master in the 
art of making people believe what he wishes them to 
believe, and is a slave to the exteriors just as his 
subjects. He dispenses blandishments, honeyed 
words, compliments and flattery, but always with an 
arriere pensee. Kaiser friendship is synonymous 
with expediency and insincerity. He has shouted the 
medieval nonsense concerning divine right till he is 
probably a victim of self-deception; and the bombas- 
tic arrogance of his pronouncements on Germany 
show him to be an adherent of Treitschke's doctrine, 
that the State must have a sufliciency of self-conceit., 

The Kaiser's reign has been marked by tremendous 
material prosperity, and he is credited with being its 
good genius. The fruits of German prosperity he 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 287 

has consistently invested in armaments, and pursuing 
that path, he has thwarted every attempt, both within 
and without his territories, to bring about a higher 
and nobler mode of settlement for international con- 
flicts than an appeal to the sword. 

From the earliest years of his reign he has been 
possessed with the mania to increase his one talent 
by several more, which was no doubt the prime mo- 
tive for his ever-increasing armaments. He pro- 
voked the present war, and has played the role of 
Pecksniff ever since by deploring the attack of 
*' brutes and barbarians on German KulturJ^ If he 
had desired peace his course of government would 
have been quite other than it has been, and if he had 
been ruthlessly attacked by the Triple "Entente, there 
was even then no justification for the subjugation 
and devastation of Belgium. 

When history delivers her judgment on this last 
crime, the writer believes that her verdict will show 
that Belgian cities were not destroyed from motives 
of brutality alone, but as a matter of policy, so that 
German cities and Kultur should spring up in their 
places. 

There are still individuals in this country who be- 
lieve the Kaiser to be an " English gentleman " in 
character, who is the victim of a brutal military party. 
Unfortunately the writer does not share that opinion; 
on the other hand, he Is compelled to regard the 
German Emperor as the Incarnation of German na- 



288 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

tional duplicity; the sum-total of Germanic brutal 
self-assertion, self-love and indifference to others, to- 
gether with the many other superficial qualities which 
help to make the intellectual veneer known to the 
world as German character. 



CHAPTER XV 

NAVAL CRESCENDO 

IN maritime affairs Germany probably has justi- 
fied grievances against this country; they lie back 
so far, however, that they cannot be counted among 
the causes which have led up to the present war. 
During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, German 
merchants from the ancient Hanse cities had a great 
part of English inland trade and overseas commerce 
In their hands. English kings granted them rights 
and privileges enabling them to establish a depot in 
London — the old Steelyard — from which they 
journeyed throughout the length and breath of the 
land. 

In those days their agents travelled to all English 
fairs and markets. Queen Ehzabeth dealt their 
flourishing undertakings a mortal blow by suppressing 
these privileges, and Oliver Cromwell's " Naviga- 
tion Act " completed the ruin of their English trade. 

A grievance against England which is often men- 
tioned by German naval writers is an incident which 
occurred In 1848. It would seem that Lord Pal- 
merston ordered any ships bearing the German im- 
perial flag (black — white — red) to be sunk as 

28& 



S90 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

pirates. The writer has not yet discovered any ac- 
count of this in English sources, and can give no au- 
thentic reason for Lord Palmerston's action. He 
presumes, however, that the English Prime Minister 
refused to recognize the flag of a non-existent coun- 
try. If any abuses had been committed under the im- 
perial German banner, it is difficult to see which gov- 
ernment could have been called to account for them. 

When the various German States united in 1871 to 
found tKe German Empire, then the seas were free 
to ships bearing the flag of that Empire. It is com- 
prehensible that Germans who desired to attain na- 
tional unity would have liked to see the symbol of 
their union waving on German ships, but previous to 
1 87 1 it would have been an anachronism and an inter- 
national absurdity. It is interesting to note that this 
insignificant event has been exploited to illustrate 
British bullying. Otherwise the agitators have been 
compelled to draw imaginary pictures of British envy 
and hate in order to make out their case. 

It was not till the nineteenth century, when some 
degree of internal stability had been obtained in the 
various German States, that Teutonic ambitions were 
again aroused and Teutonic eyes turned seaward. 
These aspirations in themselves are perfectly legiti- 
mate so long as they aim at Germany's necessary 
defence, and are intended to be a means for further- 
ing her well-being and developing her peculiar in- 
terests, without prejudice to the established rights of 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 291 

her neighbours. We shall see, however, that this 
equitable ideal has given place to intolerant, incon- 
siderate plans of self-aggrandizement. The free 
atmosphere of the waves, instead of bringing 
strength, courage and respect for others, including 
their rights and aims, has only fanned the devouring 
fires of ambition for world power. 

In 1 841 a festival poem was published to celebrate 
the annual congress of the Hanseatic League {Hansa^ 
bund) . 

During the intervening seventy-four years German 
writers have advanced hardly any sentiment in sup- 
port of their advocacy of a great German fleet which 
Is not expressed by the anonymous poetaster of 1841. 
The title of the poem is " The German Fleet; an Ad- 
monition to the German People," and its author as- 
serts that Germany Is to rule the world. In fourteen 
seven-line verses he appeals to the nation to grasp 
the trident and with it the rudder of the world's 
history. When German unity has been attained and 
one Kaiser rules over all the German peoples then 
Germany shall dominate the world. England's ship 
Is rotten, and too long she has weighed up the desti- 
nies of Europe in her " pedlar's balance." Germany 
Is the Shepherd of the nations and shall be the Regen- 
erator of the world. One passage suggests Kaiser 
Wilhelm's famous saying. It runs: 

** And in the furrows which Columbus made 
Germany's future will be found." 



g92 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

At this date it is impossible to determine the 
amount of influence which the poet exercised upon his 
contemporaries. Seven years later a booklet ap- 
peared with proposals of a much more practical 
nature. It bears the following title : 

'^ Memorandum concerning the building of 

a German fleet J^ 

Submitted to the Marine Congress in Hamburg 

by the Kiel Committee. May, 1848. 

Modern Germany's fleet dates its rise from that 
year. In the author's introduction they state their 
purpose in these words : 

*' ( I ) To prove that it is necessary for Germany's 
future as well as her present, that a German fleet 
should spring up around Germany's coasts, whether 
the profit gained is equivalent to the cost and efforts 
or not. 

" (2) To lay down the principles which we have 
to follow in founding a fleet. 

*' (3) To propose a general plan and work out 
the details of the same." 

It would be superfluous to enter into the details 
of the modest proposals made by the Kiel Commit- 
tee, except to mention that the raison d^etre most 
emphasized is the necessity for coast protection as 
well as a weapon for attack. '' The Danish victories 
were obtained only because we had no sufficient forces 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 293 

on the water," is the reference made to the Schleswig- 
Holstein question. 

Another striking point is the plea for a German 
fleet, maintained at the cost of all the German States, 
as a symbol of their national unity. Their land 
armies cannot be welded into a homogeneous whole, 
because of the existing political frontiers, but on the 
waves German ships could and should fly one common 
flag showing that Germans are one at heart. Hence 
Lord Palmerston's interference ! 

In Prussia both privately and officially the agita- 
tion prospered. Moneys from both of these sources 
made a beginning possible, but the small fleet of 
frigates, etc., which came into being was essentially 
Prussian. In the meantime a society had been 
founded whose propaganda was directed towards the 
attainment of German unity. 

This society {der Nation ah erein) saw itself com- 
pelled in 1 86 1 to protest against the Prussianization 
of the young fleet. A work ^ appeared during that 
year declaring the fleet to be a Prussian dream and a 
German necessity. The immediate cause of this pro- 
test was the circulation of subscription lists by Prussia 
in the various States to obtain funds to enlarge the 
fleet. 

The author, in the name of the National Society, 
condemned this mode of obtaining the necessary 

1 " Die deutsche Flotte, ein Traura Preussens und eine Forderung 
Deutschlands." Leipzig, i86i. 



^94 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

money, which would only serve Prussian aggrandize- 
ment; he reiterated the reasons proving Germany's 
need of warships, pleaded for universal State, in 
preference to private financial aid, and insisted upon 
the movement becoming a national German under- 
taking. 

Until after the Franco-German War little of Im- 
portance happened; in the eighties an agitation be- 
gan which gave Treitschke an opportunity to pour 
out the vials of his hatred for this country. 

The Reichstag granted some Insignificant sums, 
but the movement hung fire till the present Emperor 
ascended the throne in 1888. His connection with 
the German fleet has been dealt with at considerable 
length in the preceding chapter. Therefore we may 
proceed to the year 1891, when another anonymous 
work appeared ^ entitled " Our Navy in the Eleventh 
Hour." 

The author of that work gives an Interesting ac- 
count of Germany's maritime interests, a history of 
the fleet up to that year, and a detailed description 
of the sailor's life. In conclusion he adds that his 
purpose has been " to call attention to the navy, to 
make his readers acquainted with sea life, the de- 
velopment and progress of our navy up to the present 
day, to describe its organization and naval warfare, 
and lastly to arouse the nation's true and serious in- 
terest in the fleet." 

2"Unsere Marine in der Elften Stunde," 1891, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 295 

The writer of the work fulfilled his task efficiently, 
and relates in his pages a story of Frederick the 
Great which is worthy of repetition. Frederick's 
ambassador in London found himself unable to rep- 
resent his royal master in a style corresponding to his 
greatness. He made a personal appeal to the Prus- 
sian king, complaining that the English aristocracy 
made fun of his shabby coat, and enforced the lesson 
that more splendour was necessary as a background 
for his diplomatic duties in the English capital. The 
Embassy funds did not allow him to keep a carriage. 
*' Well, walk, then," answered His Majesty, " and if 
anybody makes fun of you, tell them there are two 
hundred thousand Prussian soldiers behind you." 
" Yes," replied the Ambassador, " that hint would do 
very well in Paris; but seeing that England is an 
island, I must be able to add that the two hundred 
thousand can swim! " 

In order not to lose sight of any factor in the 
growth of the German fleet it is necessary to return 
to the previous year (1890), for that year was 
marked by an event which made Germany's naval 
expansion possible, viz., the acquisition of Heligo- 
land. Germans had cast their eyes longingly upon 
this now famous island for many years before. 
Treitschke had written of it In 1875, and Kaiser 
Wilhelm Is credited by authoritative German writers 
with having had the fixed determination to gain pos- 
session whatever the cost might be. 



^96 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

During the writer's earlier years (i 902-1 907) in 
the Fatherland he heard many bitter denunciations 
of England's greed in obtaining a huge slice of Africa 
in exchange for a " useless " rocky islet. In recent 
years, as the little island has been transformed into 
an impregnable ( ?) fortress, German opinion has 
changed in proportion as the Kaiser's astuteness has 
dawned upon their massive intellects. 

The completion of the deal (which met with con- 
siderable hostility in the House of Commons) is 
now ascribed to English stupidity and lack of fore- 
sight in regard to the military and naval possibilities 
of Heligoland. 

The writer has often pointed out to German ac- 
quaintances that the cession of the island was one of 
the many proofs of good will which the English Gov- 
ernment has shown towards Germany, indeed striking 
evidence that England had no desire to occupy land 
from which she could bully Germany and dominate 
German maritime interests. In short, a practical 
proof that England had no objection to Germany's 
just naval expansion. Needless to add, such argu- 
ments were laughed to scorn; England never has been 
and never will be magnanimous. 

The writer has had no opportunity^ to examine the 
inner motives of English Statesmen in the year 1890, 
but as he has observed many similar attempts made 
by EngHsh ministers from 1900 till 19 14, and heard 
them decried in Germany as " English cunning," 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY ^97 

he prefers to believe that Lord Sahsbury knew that 
he was entrusting a possible weapon against England, 
when he ceded Heligoland to the German Empire. 
Whatever his motives were, the simple fact remains 
that the weapon has been pointed at England's breast 
alone — a procedure which the writer is forced to 
describe as peculiarly German. 

Furthermore, there is another German character- 
istic betrayed in the Heligoland incident : it has been 
employed to arouse and feed the flames of hatred in 
Teutonic hearts against this country. 

While the German Government fortified the island 
for aggression against England, Statesmen and publi- 
cists pointed to Heligoland as an example of Britain's 
brutal greed. 

It is interesting to hear the opinion of a writer 
whose name is mentioned almost daily in the English 
Press. ^ In this survey of Germany's foreign policy 
between 1888 and 19 13, Count Reventlow writes on 
page 42 of his work: " Salisbury had not the genius 
to recognize the future value of Heligoland." Dis- 
cussing Lord Salisbury's, reasons for his policy, the 
Count continues : " From the military point of view 
we can only shake our heads at the naivete of his 
declaration. We are amazed that the British Ad- 
miralty had not thought out the various conceivable 
military and political possibilities. But the essential 

3 " Deutschland's Auswartige Politik, 1888-1913," by Count Re- 
ventlow. Published in the spring of 1914. 



298 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

point IS that they had not Imagined that a real, re« 
spect-inspiring German naval power, a high-seas fleet, 
could come into being within a measurable space of 
time. What we know to-day, but which nobody had 
thought of then, except, perhaps, the German Em- 
peror, is that it was absolutely necessary for Ger- 
many to possess Heligoland if she ever hoped to be- 
come a naval power. But at that time a strong high- 
seas fleet was an idea cherished only by the Kaiser 
and a few naval oflicers. Further, we must not for- 
get that no time was to be lost if Germany wanted 
Heligoland. 

" No British government would have sold the 
island for any price whatsoever, after it became ob- 
vious that the Kaiser's plans for a mighty German 
fleet were going to be energetically pursued to their 
logical conclusion. In the same moment that Eng- 
land knew of such resolves, the possibility of acquir- 
ing the island for the German Empire would have 
been lost never to return again. At the same time 
the future of German sea power would have been 
nipped in the bud." ^ 

The Germans have a proverb to meet such cases; 
it runs: "Die Schadenfreude ist die reinste 
Freude " (" Malicious joy is the purest joy;" it could 
also be rendered, " The joy of destruction is the high- 
est joy"). Since the value of Heligoland as an 
aggressive weapon against England dawned on the 

* Count Reventlow's -work, pp. 49, 51. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY S99 

Teutonic imagination, there has been a great deal 
of '^ mahcious joy " in the Fatherland. 

If Lord Sahsbury and the Admiralty blundered in 
1890, then the blunder must now be made good again, 
just as Mr. Gladstone's Majuba and Khartoum er- 
rors had to be undone. If, on the other hand, Eng- 
lish fair-dealing and magnanimous treatment of a 
possible rival have been shamelessly abused, then the 
oft-quoted phrase is applicable to the case : Never 
again ! 

It has been shown that the year 1897 was an event- 
ful one in the history of the German fleet, but more 
remains to be mentioned. The German Navy Bill 
was completed in that year and introduced to the 
Reichstag. Von Tirpitz was at the head of the Ad- 
miralty and a new policy had begun. Until then 
coast defence had been the aim of Germany's fleet 
for nearly half a century; that idea was abandoned 
and a course adopted which led to great possibilities. 
That year is marked, too, by a rapid increase of naval 
literature, which would to-day fill a large library. 

In this work the author can only give a glimpse 
of the enormous agitation which moved Germany 
during the succeeding decade. He can only quote 
here and there from writers of note and Influence. 
One of these sources Is " Das preussische Jahrbuch " 
(Prussian Year Book) , a review of the highest stand- 
ing. For many years it was edited by Treltschke ; he 
was succeeded by Professor Delbriick, who has edited 



SOO THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

It up to the present time. It will be referred to un- 
der the letters " P. Y. B." 

We can classify this mass of literature under two 
heads, that for educated readers and the other for the 
masses. The writer is not in a position to give an 
adequate account of the latter, because he has none 
at his disposition. But for years past German book- 
sellers' windows have not been free from sensational 
works dealing with the '' inevitable " war with Eng- 
land. 

One well-known book of this type is *' Seestern," 
which gave a bloodthirsty picture of a treacherous 
attack on Germany by England. The writer has 
read many such books; they generally concluded by 
Germany overthrowing England's supremacy on the 
seas and taking it unto herself. 

In 1 9 14 a similar work appeared, and it was a 
conspicuous feature in the bookshops when war broke 
out. The cover gave an inkling of its tendency. A 
glaring picture depicted a naval battle between the 
English fleet and Zeppelins. English battleships 
were going under on all sides. A new explosive 
dropped from the airships was effecting the work of 
destruction. But the airships were so near that any ' 
sailor could have blown them up by means of hand 
bombs! On reading the book one discovered that 
the English had made the long-talked-of treacherous 
attack and destroyed the German fleet, but the air- 
ships enabled Germany to take revenge and blot out 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 301 

the English navy. Crude conceptions! yet they 
found a ready sale — as a rule the German does not 
spend much money on books; but a picture of Eng- 
land's downfall never failed to reach his purse. 
This type of book generally bore the legend " writ- 
ten by a naval officer," a statement which may have 
been true or merely a mutual trick of the author and 
his publisher to increase sales. Such books deserve 
no further notice except that they led the popular im- 
agination in one direction — the desired one ! 

It is no exaggeration to say that Anglophobia had 
taken such deep root in the German people, that for 
years they have longed to cross swords with the 
Colossus whose feet are of clay. The sources which 
the writer intends to quote are more restrained; they 
are all works which command the highest respect of 
the German public. They are not alarmist authors, 
but men of responsibility vv^ho enjoy reputation in 
their native land. 

As mentioned above the Navy Bill produced the 
beginnings of an agitation ^ which became a national 
avalanche. The " P. Y. B." entered the fray de- 
cisively in vol. II. pp. 176 to 188 for 1897. Delbriick 
told his readers that England hated Germany and 
that Germans would have to reckon with Enghsh 
envy for all time. " No diplomatic courtesy, no 

^Numerous pamphlets appeared, one of which had a large circu- 
lation: "The German Fleet and the German People," by Dr. Ras- 
sow, Gottingen. Price, 20 pfg. (zj^d.). 



302 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

political tactics will be able to remove this factor." 
In the same volume he deals with the difficulties 
raised by Bavaria to the new naval schemes and the 
opposition of various parties in the Reichstag. At 
that time he was not yet prepared to question Eng- 
land's naval supremacy, for we find him writing on p. 
475 : " England, whose superiority on the waters is 
undisputed, and as far as we can see will remain so, 
we can leave out of the count. Sea trade may be 
called the lung-breathing of a State. So long as it 
does not cease for long, life-giving blood will still 
pulsate in the arteries of the organism. But when 
sea trade stops the functions soon cease." 

These are interesting concessions in view of Ger- 
many's present declaration that England's blockade 
can never force Germany to her knees. At that 
period the statements were made to frighten Michael 
into paying for a fleet, while the latest claims are in- 
tended to keep up his courage. 

Another argument adduced in the same article is: 
" We must have colonies, but we can only obtain 
possession of them with a strong German fleet, for 
we shall meet with obstinate resistance on all sides. 
We shall be threatened, as we were at the time of 
the Transvaal telegram, by the mobilization of flying 
squadrons. Yet at the same time it is necessary to 
have a fleet equal to that of England. To those who 
are afraid of the apparition Weltpolitik (world pol- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 803 

icy) inaugurated by the Navy Bill, we may say that it 
will only enable us to protect our own skins." 

Caprivi was Chancellor, and he succeeded in get- 
ting the Naval Bill through the Reichstag in March, 
1898. But in order to attain his end, it was neces- 
sary to win over the Poles; certain concessions were 
made to them, and they voted for the Bill, and thus 
It became law. " That great work has not been 
created by a wave of national enthusiasm, but by 
clever parliamentary diplomacy." " P. Y. B." 

Caprivl was soon replaced by Prince Hohenlohe. 
Germany had definitely entered upon a career of 
world policy and stepped on to the " inclined plane '* 
\{schiefe Ebene) of naval expansion. Within two 
years the trumpets sounded again, calling for more 
ships and still more ships. 




CHAPTER XVI 

" FULL STEAM AHEAD I '* ^ 

ENTION has already been made of the diffi- 
culties with which the German naval expan- 
sion party had to contend through popular ignorance 
of all things maritime. The society which has done 
most to enlighten Germans, sow seeds of hatred for 
England, and bring about German schemes for a 
great fleet, is the Flottenverein (Navy League). It 
was founded in 1898 by forty- four persons. The 
minimum subscription was fixed at sixpence. At the 
end of the first year there were 1 14,345 members, and 
in 1 9 14 well over three millions. Prince Henry of 
Prussia (the Kaiser's brother) accepted the Presi- 
dency. 

The objects of the society were to educate the na- 
tion in the naval question and to arouse the people's 
interest in Germany's young fleet. The organization 
consists of local lodges {Ortsgruppen) linked up in 
districts, which in their turn are affiliated to pro- 
vincial and then to the supreme lodge for the coun- 
try in question, i.e., Bavaria, Prussia, etc. A special 
badge was designed for members, and received the 
Kaiser's sanction. 

1 Foil Dampf voraus! — one of the mottoes which the Kaiser has 
coined to spur on the navy agitation in Germany. 

304 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY S05 

The propaganda has been universal; branch so- 
cieties have been founded in Valparaiso and London. 
In the Fatherland no channel by which public opinion 
could be influenced has been overlooked. 

The Flottenverein has published numerous works 
on the German navy, including handbooks for those 
seeking a career in the fighting or the maritime navy. 
The society has scattered pamphlets and pictures 
broadcast throughout the land. Its charts hang on 
school walls and in other public institutions. Every 
year the local lodges send printed circulars to all resi- 
dents, inviting them to subscribe or become members. 
Automatic machines on the railway stations sell patri- 
otic naval postcards showing pictures of battleships 
and bearing the motto, " Our Future is on the 
Water." 

Lectures have been held in schools, universities, 
villages and towns by a large staff of lecturers, includ- 
ing many naval officers. 

The writer has often attended lectures held for 
the general public, and heard the most bitter, fiery 
denunciations of this country — especially after the 
Morocco crisis and during the Balkan War. There 
was no suggestion of compromise with England, but 
the people were told, *' We Germans must keep on 
building ships till we can talk to England In our 
way!" That sentence expresses exactly what the 
majority of the German nation has most ardently 
longed for during the last decade. 



306 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

The Flottenverein publishes an illustrated 
monthly, Die Flotte (" The Fleet ") , an organ which 
serves the purposes of the two affiliated navy leagues, 
the parent society and the Flottenverein im Ausland 
(Navy League Abroad) . 

Another part of the educational work is the ar- 
rangement of numerous trips every year for teachers, 
school children and adults to inspect battleships, 
coast towns, dockyards, Heligoland, etc. These ex- 
cursions run from the innermost parts of the land 
and are exceedingly popular. 

But the great events in the history of the Flotten- 
verein have been the successive naval bills introduced 
in the Reichstag. 

For months previous to the parliamentary debates 
there has been great activity in preparing the public 
mind, and the propaganda has only died down when 
each new programme has passed safely through the 
imperial parliament. One German, at least, per- 
ceived the danger of this agitation and protested 
against it (Pfarrer Umfrid, Stuttgart, in his " Anti- 
Treitschke ") . 

The Flottenverein has done more than any other 
agency to poison German opinion against England, 
to prevent a working arrangement between the two 
countries on the fleet question coming into existence, 
and in cultivating the hope that Germany was 
destined to rule the waves. If a similar agitation 
had gone on in France to make the French army 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 307 

equal to that of Germany, the latter would have 
made it a casus belli and commenced a so-called 
" preventive " war. But Germans were well aware 
that they had to do with long-suffering England. 

Many a German has frankly admitted to the 
writer, that if Germany had possessed a naval su- 
premacy and the naval question were a matter of 
existence to her as it is to England, then if England 
had striven as Germany has done to bring about 
either equality or superiority, she (England) would 
have been immediately smashed by a *' preventive " 
war. Prevention is better than cure. This defines 
Germany's attitude exactly, and yet a section of the 
British public was quite prepared to see Germany 
build as many ships as she liked. 

In her internal policy Germany is reactionary, her 
foreign policy is a combination of Anarchism, Nihi- 
lism and Social Democracy. She recognizes no 
" vested interests " when she possesses the power to 
seize them for herself. The Englishman abhors the 
idea of bullying, and hates even falsely to be consid- 
ered a bully. Germany is quite aware of this weak- 
ness, and has played cunningly upon this side of 
English character to gain concessions at the Haguie 
and in the Treaty of London, but it would be hope- 
less to seek any sign of weakening on Germany's side 
since she began her naval expansion schemes. 

On October loth, 1899, the Kaiser told his people 
in a speech delivered in Hamburg: " Bitter Not ist 



308 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

uns eine starke deutsche Flotte " ("A powerful 
German fleet is a bitter necessity "). This was one 
of the opening episodes of a great campaign pre- 
paratory to the Navy Bill of 1900. The cry was 
taken up throughout the length and breadth of 
the land. University professors, authors, officers, 
Statesmen, artists, everybody of any importance, was 
engaged, on the platform and in the press, in the 
great fight to convert the people. Under Hohen- 
lohe ( 1 898-1900) a certain amount of national en- 
thusiasm had been aroused, but the Junkers had to 
be won over. One of the Agrarier leaders, Dr. 
Flahn, is reported to have said: " Die grassliche 
Flotte wieder!" ("This wretched fleet again.") 

After the Spanish-American War, the Chancellor, 
Prince Hohenlohe, said: *^ We must not run the 
danger of suffering the same fate at the hands of 
England which Spain has met with from the United 
States." 

Special efforts were made to convert the Social 
Democrats, and Professor Delbriick reports in the 
*' P. Y. B." that one of the remarkable incidents in 
the campaign was the arrangement of mass meetings 
for the working classes. Leaders of the revolution- 
ary party debated in public with expert opponents on 
the new naval programme. Nineteen mass meet- 
ings were held in Berlin alone, at one of which 
Delbriick debated the question with the Social Demo- 
cratic leader, Herr Singer. The support of the 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 309 

party was gained, and Delbriick writes in the 
"P. Y. B." for 1900: ''I know for certain that 
great enthusiasm for the fleet prevails even among 
the Social Democrats." 

The Reichstag passed the 1900 proposals by 201 
to 103 votes, whereby Germany's total of battleships 
was doubled and other increases made in propor- 
tion. 

It cannot be too strongly emphasized that Ger- 
many never wanted friendship with this country, and 
every effort towards an entente made by England has 
been met with undisguised contempt or rankling 
suspicion. 

One of the earliest offers was made by the late 
Mr. Joseph Chamberlain in a speech delivered at 
Leicester, November 30th, 1899. Count Revent- 
low, on p. 145 of his book on German foreign policy, 
writes: " Chamberlain's proposal of an unwritten 
alliance between England, Germany and America to 
guarantee the peace of the world aroused interest 
but met with a cool reception in Germany, and the 
country was unanimous in rejecting such an offer. 
Chamberlain was suspected of hypocrisy." Writing 
in the " P. Y. B." 1900, p. 188, Professor Delbriick 
records the fact that Germans look upon England 
as a colossus with feet of clay, and gloats that the 
English " are stretching out their arms to us. As 
to Chamberlain's proposed alliance, public opinion 
would refuse any such thing." Delbriick goes on 



810 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

to discuss the approaching disruption of the British 
Empire and adds ; " It would be a misfortune if the 
British Empire were broken up now, because the 
German fleet is not yet strong enough to enable us 
to say our say." 

Chamberlain seems to have been cured very soon 
of his folly in offering friendship to a country which 
consistently spurned any such proposals, for in a 
later speech he advised England " to use a long 
spoon when dining with the devil.'* It is a cause for 
deep regret that his country did not follow that ad- 
vice. Chamberlain went even so far as to defend 
the British army against the calumnies which Ger- 
many had manufactured in her editorial offices, and 
referred Germans to their conduct in 1 870-1. 

Reventlow admits (p. 170) that for two years 
Germans had done nothing but abuse England and 
pray for her downfall; yet " a storm of hate and 
rage swept through the country after the Edinburgh 
speech. When we read the extensive literature of 
those years, we find on nearly every page the thought, 
indeed the hope, to be able one day to smash Eng- 
land." Even the Imperial Chancellor spoke on the 
matter in the Reichstag: "In the whole German 
nation, in all classes, and In all parties of the same, 
these charges — which are entirely groundless — • 
aroused the bitterest indignation." The Incident 
illustrates once more the German attitude, that they 
may slander and lie, yet If the simple truth is spoken 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 311 

about Germany, then Germanla has a severe attack 
of holy indignation.^ 

In any case, there is ample proof that Germany 
was contemplating, even then, the naval struggle 
which she had determined, in her own good time, to 
provoke with this country; and she was definitely 
committed to the path pointed out by the official 
press: ''In this world only might counts. Only 
power commands respect in politics, and so it must 
be might, might, and still again might." — Fritz 
Hoenig in the Allgemeine Zeitung. 

Another instructive source for information on 
Germany's bid for world power is " Das Jahrbuch 
fiir Deutschland's See-Interessen " ("Yearbook of 
Germany's Maritime Interests "), by Nauticus, Ber- 
lin. This work, commenced in 1898, gives a com- 
plete record of German naval expansion. The best 
writers of the day are among its contributors, and 
in view of the large amount of technical information 
in it, it must be accepted as an official publication. 
It reflects the same development as seen in all the 
literature on the subject; first coast defence, then a 
high-seas fleet, to make any attacker afraid, and 
lastly, German world power. 

It is also interesting from an international point 
of view, because it records the effect which Ger- 
many's naval expansion has had on the growth of 

2 The author has heard accounts from the lips of German cam- 
paigners in the Franco-German War confirming the charges. They 
admitted the brutality, but pleaded justification. 



312 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

other fleets. It is a German refutation of the Ger- 
man assertion that she has been driven to build a 
great fleet by the increase of other fleets. On the 
contrary, it proves clearly that the advent of the 
German fleet let loose international suspicion and 
forced the other naval powers to keep pace. Only 
England has been able to keep ahead during the 
short period of naval hustling initiated by Germany 
in 1900. 

Furthermore it must strike the student of Ger- 
many's naval literature that up to 1902 comparisons 
were often made with France, but after that year 
the Teuton looked upon France as finished with; 
from that point only England interests him, and he 
discusses again and again a naval conflict with this 
country. 

Nautlcus writes under the heading " World Policy 
and Naval Power," 1902: "The expansion of 
Continental policy to world policy must be on the 
basis of a mighty fleet. In world poHtics that power 
takes precedence which possesses the greatest navy." 

A year later the same work contains a detailed 
study of what England could do against Germany 
in a naval war; there is a sermon on the " jealous 
rival," and the determination expressed that Ger- 
many must continue to tread the path of world 
policy. Envious England was already trying to 
allure or frighten her from that path. The answer 
must be ships and still more battleships. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 313 

Yet the German never perceives that every page 
of his propaganda is soiled with envy for England's 
powerful position. In 1907, p. 17, Nauticus con- 
tinues : " Great Britain is more a world power than 
ever; her foreign policy is only world policy because 
she can attain everything she desires by her fleet. 
Whether it will always be so remains to be seen." 

After this candid confession that Germany's fleet 
has another mission than that of defence, it is amus- 
ing to read Nauticus's annual explosions of wrath 
because England took preventive measures. He, 
too, scorns the idea of friendship with England, and 
is astonished ( 1913, p. 4) " that anybody in England 
can perceive a danger In the German fleet. It is 
quite incomprehensible, for it has never occurred to 
us to rival England in naval armaments." 

In the October numiber, 1909, of the " P. Y. B." 
Delbriick discussed the fleet question in detail. The 
article is entitled: ''Why Germany builds Battle- 
ships." He reintroduces France into the discussion, 
and afl'irms that Germany's ships are intended to 
prevent France from cutting oft German commerce 
in the next w^ar. The fleet is not intended either to 
threaten or crush England. (It is curious that the 
German people always believed that to be the mission 
of the German na\7'. — Author.) Yet the learned 
professor states that " without German ships the 
world to-day would be on the way to become English 
within thirty years. Fortunately the German fleet 



314 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

makes that hope a mere phantasy. Our fleet is not 
to get colonies,^ but only to enable German influence, 
capital, trade, technics and intelligence to enter into 
free competition in those lands which are outside 
European culture." 

In the same article it is admitted that if Germany 
could crush England, then she would obtain world 
power; the rivalry between the two countries is natu- 
ral, but it need not lead to war. It will be suflicient 
for the two powers to hold each other in check by 
developing their armaments ad infinitum. *' Thus 
the possibility of war can take the place of war." 

Only a few months previously Delbriick had 
fumed because " while Europe was occupied Eng- 
land has grabbed three more provinces of Slam. 
Are her politicians cleverer than ours? No, they 
are not; but it is on account of her fleet. Bismarck 
declined to take up world politics and the building 
of battleships, but we do not intend to be so modest. 
Although the public is sometimes enraged at our im- 
potence, our watchword must be patience and care." 

Two years later the same writer repeats his lesson 

^ Germany's naval propaganda is replete with contradictions and 
subterfuges. There is a large amount of material intended for the 
German taxpayer, and a great many arguments for the use of Eng- 
lish pacifists. But this disavowal of any intention to obtain colonies 
is unique. Cf. "P. Y. B." 1913, December number, p. 574: "Ger- 
many's political task in the present state of the world can be no 
other than to found a great colonial empire, and not to permit that 
anything is taken as a sphere of interest unless we are partici- 
pators." By this standard we must judge her protestations of inno- 
cence In her designs against England. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 315 

on patience In the words : " Time Is In our favour, 
and we must carefully avoid everything which might 
hasten the crisis with England." 

An open letter from Professor Delbriick was pub- 
lished In the Contemporary Review for April, 191 1, 
in which the people of England were Informed that 
the building of Germany's fleet was the answer to 
England's shortsighted and envious policy.^ Del- 
briick repeated the well-worn phrase that Germany 
had no Intention of attacking England (which we 
readily believe, because her preparations for attack 
were not completed), and asserts that It Is Impossible 
to remove the tension between the two countries. 
" For all time the German nation will Insist upon hav- 
ing a fleet which Inspires respect In the English, and 
we shall build all the more because our overseas com- 
merce Is continually on the Increase. I belong to those 
who do not expect any success either from arbitration 
treaties or International armament limitations." 

This utterance deserves special notice, because It 
expresses In brief form the opinion of the German 
nation. All thinking Germans have long been con- 
vinced that any friendly arrangement with England 
was outside the realm of practical politics. 

In one place we are told that England's envy has 

* Considering that Delbriick had made fun of England's friend- 
ship when oifered by Mr. Chamberlain (1898 and 1899) and later 
by Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, it is difficult to understand what 
would have appeased the Germans. They rejected our friendship, 
and accused us of envying and hating them! 



316 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

driven the German Empire to build a great fleet, 
and in another and later article (" P. Y. B.," Novem- 
ber, 1913, p. 363) a very different version occurs. 
In this place Delbriick admits that England's mistrust 
and jealousy {Argwohn) have disappeared, and that 
Great Britain is resigned to German rivalry. 

He writes : " The suspicion that Germany is pre- 
paring for war has evidently absolutely disappeared. 
Is it possible under these circumstances to diminish 
our naval armaments ? No ! the continuation of our 
ship-building will not spoil our good relations to 
England." Then he asks: "Are we approaching 
a period of general peace and friendship, an era of 
well-being and content? " and answers it in the nega- 
tive: "It will be just the contrary, for humanity 
only feels well amidst strife." 

Thus it is evident that no force whatever could 
change Germany's purpose to rival England on the 
waters. Ostensibly her fleet was to protect her from 
English aggression, and although the Fatherland's 
agitators never ceased to frighten the German public 
by that bogy, yet her responsible leaders knew that 
there was no danger from long-suffering England, 
and even when claiming that England had been lulled 
into the desired calm, still more German ships had 
to be built. The fact that England seemed recon- 
ciled to the presence of a great German fleet near 
her coasts seems to have given German writers con- 
siderable satisfaction. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 317 

In the " P. Y. B." for March, 1 812, it Is recorded 
that '' Germans believe that England's international 
affairs will compel her nolens volens to put up with 
the German fleet, and our agitators are recommend- 
ing that the opportunity should be made use of to 
increase the naval programme." 

More than once a note of rejoicing is heard that 
England is getting tired of the race. Reventlow 
writes on p. 386 of his book: "The offers of 
Haldane and Churchill show that matters are be- 
coming more difficult for England from the financial, 
military and naval points of view. Further, the 
English place great hope in the international and 
pacifistic movement in Germany." 

For several years past the opinion has gradually 
gained ground that England was getting tired of the 
race and she was beginning to feel the drain upon 
her resources. This, it was said, was the real mo- 
tive for Mr. Churchill proposing a naval holiday. 
Our ardent desire for an equitable arrangement was 
not considered a sign that we respected Germany's 
right to exist and thrive, but Germans said on all 
sides, that the arrangement was sought because Eng- 
land saw that was her only hope to escape either 
gradual suffocation or Germany's final grand attack. 

The newspapers contained (19 13) elaborate 
proofs that this country was far more heavily bur- 
dened with taxation than the Fatherland. Although 
the writer is unable to quote the statistics cited, he 



318 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

remembers the line of argument, which was as 
follows : 

The taxation of the entire population of the Brit- 
ish Isles is 45s. per head, while in Germany it works 
out at 25s. per unit. The astute agitators omitted 
the fact that every German whose income is £30 per 
annum pays both rates and taxes ; further, that taxa- 
tion in England only commences on incomes of £160 
per annum. In Germany every individual — even 
servant-girls — have had to pay income-tax, and the 
rates are calculated on that basis, e.g., in Erlangen 
a person who paid 100 pence income tax contributed 
140 pence to local rates. That is to say, the rates 
are 140 per cent, of amount paid for income tax. 
The percentage for rates varies; in Munich it Is 
about 200 per cent. In England there are millions 
of men and women who contribute nothing In di- 
rect taxation; in Germany there is not a single in- 
dividual who escapes the duty of rendering unto 
Caesar. 

While Lord Haldane was in Berlin the writer had 
a conversation with an old pupil of Treitschke, Pro- 
fessor Beckmann, of Erlangen University. The 
naval question was the topic under discussion, and 
the writer pointed out that naval supremacy is a llfe- 
and-death question for England, for supposing that 
England defeated the German navy, she would still 
be unable to threaten Germany's existence. There- 
fore it was absolutely necessary for the two peoples 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 319 

to make an arrangement by which German interests 
would be protected and England's existence secured. 
The sea is, in fact, England's jugular vein, and if she 
loses command of the seas, then her jugular vein is 
cut. *' So much the better," replied Professor B. ; 
" and we Germans look upon it as our destined mis- 
sion to sever that particular vein." 

His subsequent remarks were to the effect that no 
such arrangement would ever be ratified by Germany. 
*' The government which took that step would cause 
a revolution in Germany. We look upon the trident 
as our birthright, and if things go on as they are, the 
day will inevitably come when England will volun- 
tarily surrender it; if she will not, we shall take it 
by force. Meanwhile, you can rest assured that 
Berlin will amuse Lord Haldane and themselves, but 
nothing of a binding nature will be done." 

It is true, that when the failure of Lord Haldane's 
mission became evident, Germans heaved a sigh of 
relief. They had feared that " English cunning " 
might succeed in wheedling the Kaiser and his gov- 
ernment into selling Germany's " birth-right " for a 
mess of pottage, in the form of an agreement limiting 
the growth of the two fleets. 

Count Reventlow continues, p. 389 : *' The fruits 
of heavy work and great sacrifice will soon ripen, 
but they can only ripen if we continue to tread the 
appointed and prepared way. We must proceed 
calmly and resolutely, and not allow ourselves to be 



320 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

blinded Into thinking Great Britain's Interest Is Ger-» 
many's welfare. 

" When the English people see that neither time 
nor change in political parties nor gushing politeness 
are able to exercise any Influence In diminishing the 
German fleet, then they will at last resign themselves 
to the Inevitable." 

The same writer expresses his keen satisfaction 
that Herr von Biilow during his Chancellorship 
(1900 to 1909) and his successor, Bethmann-Holl- 
weg, both set their faces against England's " allure- 
ments." These ministers could not have followed 
any other course, for the Kaiser did not want Eng- 
land's friendship. Germany's foreign policy Is a 
personal policy dictated by the Emperor, and no 
Chancellor could remain In oflfice whose International 
policy was not In accordance with the Kaiser's wishes. 

Reventlow, together with other writers, admits 
that von Billow's refusal to make an arrangement 
with England drove the latter Into the entente 
cordiale. 

It is difficult to see how England could have satis- 
fied the Fatherland, for she would not deign to ac- 
cept our proffered friendship, and was enraged with 
England for making a friendly arrangement with 
both France and Russia. 

There were Germans, however, who saw that It 
was an imperative necessity for Germany to arrive 
at some mutual understanding with this country: 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 321 



C( 



An arrangement with England concerning naval 
armaments is the Archimedean point of leverage, at 
which a world policy on a grand scale can be assured 
to the German Empire. Without this understand- 
ing with England we shall always be troubled with 
the fear that our future, which is to be on the water, 
disappears one fine day under the water." ^ 

Another writer may be cited in support of the 
point that Germany never intended to recognize Eng- 
land's naval supremacy, which is synonymous with 
England's existence. The writer Is an American, 
and not open to a charge of partiality. " Germany 
IS determined to possess a battle fleet so strong that 
a war with her would, even for the greatest naval 
power, be attended by such danger as would render 
that power's position doubtful. The suggestion that 
England should make an arrangement with Germany 
and retain her preponderance on the sea does not 
seem a futility in England; in Germany it is regarded 
as verging upon impudence." ^ 

For many years a semi-official Navy Year Book 
{T as chenhuch der Kriefsflotten) has appeared in 
Berlin. The issue for 19 13 comments on the politi- 
cal situation as follows : " The critical period which 
Germany passed through in 191 1, and which brought 
Into the realm of probabilities an unexpected attack 

5 " Von Bismarck bis Bethmann," by Dr. Michaelis, p. 134. Ber- 
lin, 1911. 

6 " Monarchical Socialism in Germany," by Elmer Roberts. Lon- 
don and New York, 191 3. 



S^2 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

from England assisted by France, has opened the 
€yes of the German nation to the threatened danger. 
The national outburst which this caused, found ex- 
pression In a vigorous demand by the expert and 
dally press, by the newly-founded defence society 
(JVehrverein), by the German Navy League and 
other patriotic societies, for increased Imperial se- 
curity against that kind of sudden hostilities. In 
February, 19 12, the speech from the throne an- 
nounced another armaments bill (JVehrvorlage), 
which provided for an increase in the army and navy, 
and raised the standard of their preparedness for 
war, and on May 21st, the bill was passed by the 
Reichstag with praiseworthy unanimity." 

No mention is made of the fact that Germany 
alone provoked the crisis of 191 1, but the defensive 
measures taken by England and France against Ger- 
many's bullying attempt to destroy the entente cor- 
diale In that year were Immediately exploited In 
Germany to obtain more ships. The Reichstag 
granted an Increase of eight battleships, four battle- 
cruisers and six small cruisers, together with a cor- 
responding increase in men, etc. 

The same writer continues, p. 561: "British 
naval policy in 19 12 again showed in the plainest 
manner its anti-German tendency." Mr. Churchill's 
proposals are quoted with amused contempt. " His 
declarations, with their remarkable frankness, were 
obviously directed to the address of the German peo- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 323 

pie and the Reichstag, which was then awaiting a new 
navy bill. The joyful acceptance which the said bill 
met with a few months later must have been a little 
disappointing in reference to the influence of Church- 
Ill's speech." 

The Taschenbuch bemoans the fact that '' in 
autumn every year, on all German ships, the reserv- 
ists are dismissed, that Is to say, nearly one-third of 
the crews. These are replaced largely by recruits 
from the agricultural population. This causes the 
navy's preparedness for war to be diminished for a 
considerable time." 

There Is one other book which deserves to be 
quoted In this chapter, and It Is probably the most 
Important of all, for It was written by a high official 
of the German Admiralty and Illustrated by a per- 
sonal friend of the Kaiser's.'^ Men holding positions 
like Stower and Wislicenus, and men In close per- 
sonal touch with the German Emperor, would never 
dare to write anything which they were not sure was 
In accord with the opinions held by their Imperial 
master. The work In question ^ was an officially 
recognized publication In honour of the twenty-fifth 
year of the Kaiser's reign, and has had a large circu- 
lation throughout Germany. The following Is a 
selection from the author's opinions: 

"^ See p. 282. 

8 " Kaiser W^ilhelm II. und die Marine," by Professor Stower and 
Admiralty Councillor G. Wislicenus. Berlin, 1913. 



324^ THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

" To the English every non-British battleship is a 
luxury. But British claims in regard to the su- 
premaq^ of the sea are outside the domains of logic 
and morality. At least according to German feel- 
ings of honour " {Ehrgefuhl — the old story. Vide 
p. 90). " No British expert fears a German attack, 
but many of them would like to spring upon young 
Siegfried [Germany] from an ambush, slip a noose 
round his neck and throttle him, in order to make 
him poor and harmless for centuries to come. As 
soon as this rival [Germany] is done with, then the 
fate of our fleet is settled too. The anxiety in the 
supremacy question is so great that they even talk of 
danger and menace." 

Wislicenus finds the topic of English envy and 
suspicion inexhaustible, and again and again he calls 
up before his readers the spectre of robber England 
waiting to pounce upon Germany without a declara- 
tion of war. Like all other German naval writers, 
he glories in the fact that Lord Haldane was not 
able to bring about an understanding limiting Ger- 
many's naval expansion. 

" The instigators of strife In England employed 
the Morocco question to provoke a war. England 
wanted war, but In spite of the fact that she had her 
coal stores on the East Coast all In readiness, her 
hopes were disappointed." 

In reply to England's " stupid threat of interven- 
tion " ( 1911) *' It was shown more clearly than ever 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 325 

by the overwhelming majority in the Reichstag for 
the navy bill (19 12) and the absence of opposition, 
that Germany possesses — in spite of British threats 
— an unconquerable, immovable will to assert her- 
self as a naval power, and to be armed against all 
enviers, to protect German commerce and shipping, 
and the freedom of the seas." 

In view of the historical fact that England founded 
and for a century has maintained the " freedom of 
the seas " to all comers, it is hard to understand what 
Wislicenus's modern crusade Intends to achieve. 
German commerce and shipping are merely secon- 
dary results arising from conditions created by the 
British fleet. If the British fleet had not long since 
established the freedom of the ocean. In all proba- 
bility German commerce would never have come into 
being. 

" Friedrich List exclaimed some seventy years 
ago : * Might is the freedom of the State,' and this 
has become a watchword among all sensible Ger- 
mans. In 191 1 foreign threats of war blew away 
German Michael's cap, but he only grasped his hel- 
met and shield in order to show his enemies his 
teeth." (Exact translation. — Author.) 

Wislicenus's rage boils over when discussing Eng- 
land's fleet a necessity, Germany's a luxury. " The 
British Statesmen would have preferred to declare, 
like Palmerston In 1848, that steamers flying the 
German Imperial flag would be treated as pirates; 



Sm THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

and they would gladly have claimed that battleships 
may only be built in England, and only for the 
British fleet. But they dare not. The Germans are 
not a Hindoo people with the souls of slaves, but a 
blond, manly, warlike nation, and as good as the 
British.'' 

In summing up, the author wishes to emphasize 
the fact that he has only cited high and responsible 
authorities. Their language is sufficiently violent, 
but their utterances are exceedingly polite In com- 
parison to the opinions which prevailed among the 
masses of the German nation in ante-war days, 
especially in the reptile press, the publications of the 
Navy League, and the sensational romances on the 
coming war with England. 

English Statesmen so far apart In their political 
convictions as Joseph Chamberlain, Campbell-Ban- 
nermann, Winston Churchill and Lord Haldane 
have endeavoured to conciliate Germany, but have 
only met with German truculence, personal vilifica- 
tion and contempt. England has offered Germany 
friendship — and it has been spat upon. England 
has offered Germany every security to her sea-borne' 
trade in return for a mutual limitation of armaments, 
and Germany has rejected the offer. 

Germany knew that she already had security for 
her commerce — England's sense of justice and fair 
play was an absolute guarantee of that. Germany 
rejected all formal offers on the subject, because she 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 32T 

would have been compelled to renounce her ambition 
for naval supremacy and world domination; and 
Germany has only to thank her insensate ambition 
that she is to-day England's enemy, and not Eng- 
land's friend. 

England's cause is a just cause, and doubly so 
because she has done everything humanly possible ta 
conciliate an Irreconcilable, uncompromising, arro- 
gant rival. 

Germany's own literature as quoted In this work 
shows conclusively that England has avoided giving 
offence, has not sought the conflict, but that Ger- 
many has wantonly forced it upon her. 




CHAPTER XVII 

PEACE, WAR AND ARBITRATION 

iHE present does not seem to the writer an 
appropriate time to open up debatable ques- 
tions, or the right moment to apportion responsibility. 
Yet it Is an Imperative duty to miss no opportunity 
to collect facts, weigh them, and form opinions In 
readiness for the universal rearrangement which will 
come after the war. In England the writer hopes 
that some of the forces which have assisted In form- 
ing and leading public opinion will be deposed from 
their pedestal of ignorance. 

Unfortunately there are millions of English peo- 
ple who, one year ago, could not speak too disparag- 
ingly of our army and missed no opportunity of 
slighting It. It Is to be hoped that the events of 
19 14 have given them saner opinons. Some indi- 
viduals seem, however, to be quite Incorrigible, as 
witness the congress of the Free Churches held in 
Manchester. 

The Daily Mail reported on March 12th that a 
delegate wished to send " fraternal greetings " from 
the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches 
to their brethren In Germany. Here Is an example 
of crass Ignorance. Who and what are the Free 

328 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY S29 

Churches In Germany? The author must regret- 
fully answer that they are nothing and represent no- 
body. In 1 9 10 there were 39,991,421 Lutherans; 
23,821,453 Roman Catholics; 615,021 Jews and 
283,946 members of other Christian Churches in the 
German Empire. The last number includes mem- 
bers of the Greek Church (the Russians, who belong 
to the Greek Church, have many congregations in 
Germany) ; Church of England (which had a very 
considerable number of members in the Father- 
land) ; and the Free Churches (Methodists, Baptists, 
Salvation Army, etc.). 

At a very liberal estimate the Free Churches can 
only claim about 150,000 members in the 68,000,000 
Inhabitants of the Kaiser's empire. They are de- 
spised socially and do not possess a fragment of 
political power. Yet the Rev. F. B. Meyer and 
others of his school, have believed and taught that 
England and the cause of progress had a great deal 
to hope from the Free Churches in Germany. 

The Christians who belong to the Free Churches 
in Germany are free only in name. If they had 
dared to utter such sentiments as Free Churchmen 
have given expression to in England, they would 
have been shot years ago. 

It must not be forgotten that this 150,000 includes 
men, women and children, and of the men not one 
occupies a position of influence. And in case the 
Rev. F. B. Meyer is anxious to obtain knowledge, 



330 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

the author hastens to inform him that the Free 
Churches in Germany are not the '* little leaven 
which leaveneth the whole." 

Since the writer returned to England he has been 
amazed on many occasions at the awful misconcep- 
tions which prevail (or prevailed?) among English- 
men in regard to German life. One Free Church 
pastor had industriously informed his congregation 
that Germany is the most religious country in the 
world. The writer had the pleasure of a conversa- 
tion with this gentleman, and heard his experience 
at first hand. 

The reverend gentleman had been present at a 
Free Church Congress in Berlin, although he does 
not know a word of German. At the concluding 
meeting some 2,000 delegates from all parts of the 
world joined hands and sang the same hymn, each in 
his own language. The reverend gentleman said it 
was the most inspiring moment in his life, and under 
this rhapsodic impression concluded that the Ger- 
mans are the most religious people in the world. 
Worse than all, he and many of his like, have found 
Englishmen capable of believing such an erroneous 
conclusion. 

During the Boer War an Englishman was present 
at a dance given in Berlin. It was an assembly of 
influential personages. During the evening a tele- 
gram arrived announcing a British defeat in South 
Africa, and the merry throng went wild with joy. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 331 

In the midst of the patriotic demonstration which 
followed, a lonely figure was observed, evidently one 
who did not share the gladness of the moment. 
Then the hosts remembered that an Englishman was 
In the company, and that their behaviour was prob- 
ably wounding his feelings. Someone proposed that 
they should sing " God save the Queen " in order to 
heal the wound — and those Teutons sang our Na- 
tional Anthem with awe-inspiring fervour! 

Knowing this fact and many more illustrations of 
the kind, the author ventures to advise the Free 
Church pastor not to place too much importance 
upon theatrical displays when they are engineered by 
Germans. German character is the same, whether 
It Is concealed beneath the drab coat of a German 
Methodist or the gay uniform of a German officer. 

German war literature is even more voluminous 
than that reviewed In the last two chapters. It is 
only possible to give an Idea of Its general trend by 
quoting from living writers. Professor Delbriick 
— the man on whom Treitschke's mantle fell — 
wrote In the "P. Y. B." for November, 1910, a 
fifty-page glorification of the sword. It Is called 
"In Wehr und Waffen " ("Fully armed and 
equipped"), and begins with an old German 
proverb : 

Sellg ist das Land und die Stadt 

So bei Friedenszeiten den Krieg betracht. 

(Blessed is the land and the town 
Which in peace make a study of arms. ) 



332 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Delbriick affirms that: '' Modern civilization 
rests on the great national States, and they depend 
for existence upon their armaments. The abolition 
of armies would immediately produce a general war. 
War and all its horrors has been replaced by v/orld 
competition in armaments, the so-called ' dry ' war.'* 

In order to show that Germany has not suffered 
economically from the large sums spent on arma- 
ments Delbriick states that in 1895 income tax was 
paid on £33,000,000 sterling, and in 19 10 this had 
risen to £45,000,000. 

" The most important part of the industrial 
mechanism is, and will remain, the cannon; and the 
indispensable bearer of Kultur is, and will remain, 
the soldier, who creates peace. Not only the out- 
ward army must be maintained but the inner also — 
the moral force, the warlike spirit, without which 
the best and most perfect warlike weapons are use- 
less. Warlike spirit does not mean the lust of 
bloodshed and a desire for the awful doings of war 
for their own sake. It should only mean, and does 
to-day, the readiness and firmness of will to accept 
the struggle with all its horrors when it has become 
necessary." 

The author of the above overlooks one essential 
consideration, viz. : Who is to decide when war is 
necessary? Charles I. claimed the right to decide 
when ship-money was necessary, and Kaiser Wilhelm 
claims the right to decide when war is necessary. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 333 

In January, 191 2, Professor Delbriick returned 
to the theme, " P. Y. B.," p. 169 : ^' The danger of 
a great war, which we only narrowly escaped last 
year, has only disappeared for a moment. That 
danger stands on the horizon, threatening, immov- 
able and inevitable. War creates moral qualities of 
unlimited power, and human progress has come 
above all from the great wars of history." 

Germany to-day could probably confirm something 
of Delbriick's picture of the great regenerator. 
" In war the work of the fields is neglected, the land 
is neither sown nor reaped; the machines in the fac- 
tories are rusting, for the men have been called to 
battle; the thunder of mines and shells is heard on 
land and sea; the flames devour what generations 
have built. The houseowner gets no rent, the cred- 
itor no payment, the shareholder no dividends, and 
the State no taxes. Like a thief in the night this 
war will come on us. ' The Germans will wake up 
one morning,' said the English minister Lee a long 
time ago, ' and hear that they have had a fleet.' 
Only a few weeks ago we were standing on the brink 
of this precipice, while the English fleet was lying 
in ambush ready to fetch our navy out to the 
slaughter, which would have opened all the gates of 
hell to let loose helFs horrors on Europe. There- 
fore the cry echoes through the land : ' Strengthen 
our fleet.' " 

Throughout the article Delbriick writes of the 



334 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

" next " war as an absolute certainty, which contra= 
diets his previous assertion that the " dry " war had 
replaced real warfare. 

General von Bernhardi has been Intentionally 
omitted from this work, because Bernhardi's prin- 
cipal contributions to war literature are accessible to 
every reader. 

The present writer does not underrate Bernhardi's 
influence or the Interest which his writings should 
have for English readers. It is, however, an error 
to suppose that Bernhardi converted the German 
nation to his theories of aggression by brute force. 
Instead of converting the German nation, Bernhardi 
is on the other hand merely its mouthpiece. He has 
absorbed Germanism into himself, assimilated it, 
and then given it to the world stamped with his own 
impress. In relation to the gospel of brute force 
B'ernhardI occupies the same position as Herbert 
Spencer does to evolution. He has applied the gos- 
pel In detail. 

German military men look upon Bernhardi's 
principal work as ein plumper V err at (a clumsy 
betrayal). The author doubts whether one in a 
thousand Germans had ever heard of Bernhardi be- 
fore the great war. Certainly those who read him 
were not converts, but they studied his pages because 
Bernhardi gave clear expression to their own feelings 
and creed. 

Taking an analogy from the botanical world, 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 335 

Bernahrdi is the fruit hanging from the great tree 
of Germanism, with this difference: he did exercise 
some influence on the tree which produced him, while 
a ripe apple does not influence its parent tree. 

There are historical reasons, although no justifi- 
cation, why Germany has accepted militarism as a 
gospel from which alone earthly salvation is attain- 
able. Her Empire was founded by the sword, and 
Its expansion was only believed to be possible by a 
policy of blood and iron. With few insignificant 
exceptions all German writers have inculcated this 
teaching. It would be impossible to write even a 
chapter in favour of peace and arbitration based 
upon material taken from reputable German sources. 

From the German point of view peace is not an 
end in itself, but merely a preparation for war. 
Logically, arbitration is to the war school high 
treason of the most dastardly nature. In discussing 
the pacific movement (" P. Y. B.," November, 
19 lo), Professor Delbriick's disciple Dr. Daniels 
declares that " one of the most dangerous movements 
to peace is the English popular pacific movement." 
History has proved that statement to be true; not 
because the ideals of the pacifists are wrong in them- 
selves, but because the pacifists had too little knowl- 
edge of humanity and still less of international politi- 
cal conditions. 

They would have been wise to follow the example 
of the ancient Jews who built the Temple, with their 



336 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

swords ever ready for use. By this precautionary 
measure they were enabled to complete a glorious 
work. English pacifists, on the contrary, have ad- 
vised this nation to throw away the sword while 
building a great temple of peace. If all the nations 
of the world were agreed that the sword should be 
turned into a ploughshare, the advice of our pacifists 
would have been excellent. But in view of the fact 
that no European nation, including the English, is 
ripe for the millennium, their advice bears a striking 
resemblance to treachery and treason. 

The efforts of the peace party have achieved noth- 
ing worthy or desirable. This country has been 
lulled into a sense of false security, and Germany 
has been led to believe that England would not fight. 
Two voices have been recognizable in the Father- 
land, the one blatant militarism, the other for peace 
and friendship with England. Only one of these 
voices has found interpretation in deeds — the for- 
mer. Therefore it behooved England to listen to 
that one alone. Had this been done, military meas- 
ures would have been taken which in all probability 
might have prevented war. 

As the question of retrenchment in naval and mili- 
tary expenditure was the battle cry of the pacifists, 
it is well to look that question fairly in the face in 
order to see if it really is true economy. Germany 
spends annually £32,000,000 on her army, i.e., an 
army based upon universal service. Supposing Eng- 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 33T 

land had accepted universal service in 1904, and put- 
ting the annual cost at £50,000,000 (a figure well in 
advance of Germany's), then this country would 
have expended £500,000,000 up till July, 19 14, and 
would have had an army ready and able to keep Eng- 
land's pledged word — Belgian neutrality. Ger- 
many would then have recognized that Great Britain 
was both willing and able to protect her honour. 

Another point deserving consideration is: Who 
has paid for English armaments? There are mil- 
lions of Free Churchmen and Social Democrats im 
this country who contribute nothing to the State in 
direct taxation, and what they have paid towards the 
army and navy in indirect taxation is a negligible 
quantity. Yet their voice was the loudest in calling 
for decreased armaments. To-day they are prob- 
ably glad that other people's money hu'ih the British 
navy, which alone protects Methodist, Baptist and 
Independent Churches from the fate which has over- 
taken Belgian churches. In Germany all the work- 
ing classes — male and female — have helped by 
direct and indirect taxation to build the German fleet. 
Furthermore, the workmen have sacrificed two or 
three years' wages while serving with the colours, 
and It Is interesting that In the country where the 
working classes have made real and heavy sacrifices 
for armaments, there has been hardly any protest 
against them. Have British workmen made sacri- 
fices like these? Have they made any sacrifice 



338 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

which gives them the right to protest against arma- 
ments in time of peace and to threaten the nation's 
existence by strikes and labour troubles in time of 
war? 

Mr. Lloyd George has stated that by the end of 
the present year the war will have cost us £900,000,- 
000 without counting losses inflicted by the enemy, 
loss of trade, and what should interest the pacifists 
most of all — loss of life. 

A certain writer has endeavoured to prove that 
money spent on armaments is " The Great Illusion," 
but the present writer ventures to say it is a Great 
Delusion not to spend money to prevent war. Mr. 
Norman Angell boasts in " Who's Who " of the 
number of languages into which his *' Great Illu- 
sion " has been translated, but he omits to mention 
any one country which has failed to declare it in 
practice a — Great Delusion! To England's bitter 
cost the dupes were all Englishmen. For it will be 
England's cost I This war must be fought till Eng- 
land is victorious; but the man who believes that 
Germany can pay the bill must possess an exceed- 
ingly sanguine temperament. 

Delbriick, writing in the volume last quoted, says 
of pacifism in Germany: "This movement brings 
dangers for the intellectual health of our people, and 
it is necessary to fight against them." 

Another writer ^ denounces the movement as 

1 Count Loringboren in "The Fundamentals of Warlike Suc- 
cess." Berlin, 1914. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 33^ 

" vague cosmopolitan humanitarian ecstasy," and in 
another work ^ protests against " the hateful high- 
sounding word ' militarism/ which is not applicable 
to German conditions." After reviewing a number 
of recent wars, General Loringboren continues: 
** What I have written Is a continuous series of refu- 
tations of the doctrine of eternal peace. The latter 
emanates from effeminate natures who have forgot- 
ten what Treltschke says : * History bears through- 
out only manly traits, and was not made for women 
or sentimentalists.' Pacifism Is at bottom the crass- 
est materialism which wraps Itself In unintelligible 
phrases about Idealism, thus deceiving simple natures 
as to its real essence." 

A still more recent work ^ deals exhaustively with 
the question of arbitration. On p. 284, Reventlow 
writes : " The Hague Conference was only an Eng- 
lish trick to cripple Germany and keep her fleet 
under. The popular opinion In Germany at the time 
was, that England at the head of the other powers, 
having failed to overwhelm us politically and diplo- 
matically, was now trying to weaken our defensive 
power — the backbone of national existence. A 
great wave of disquietude went over the nation." 

With regard to the second Hague Conference, 
Reventlow reports: "The Chancellor von Biilow 
said openly In 1907 that he hoped for nothing from 

2 "War and Politics in Modern Times." Berlin, 1911. 

3 Count Reventlow's " Germany's Foreign Policy." Berlin, 1914. 



S40 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

such discussions, although he was prepared to take 
part. Public opinion, as expressed in press and 
parliament, was in favour of boycotting the confer- 
ence. Britain's proposals for the limitation of 
navies may have been honest, but it would have 
meant an end to Germany's future sea-power, and 
would have erected an international curatorship 
under English direction." It was the German dele- 
gate, Baron von Marshall, who rejected the proposal 
of an International Arbitration Court. According 
to Reventlow, Portugal was " put up " by perfidious 
England to make the proposal. 

The same historian records that the second Hague 
Conference, as far as Germany is concerned, quickly 
went to oblivion. It was of little or no importance, 
and in all essentials Germany had had her will ac- 
cepted. 

The writer has arrived at the end of his task, as 
he does not propose to discuss the events of the last 
eight months. For many years he has believed this 
war to be inevitable, yet could never persuade an 
Englishman that there was danger ahead. England 
is now faced with a great task. She has tried in vain 
by concessions and persuasion to conciliate the sullen, 
envious, suspicious and uncompromising Teuton. A 
time will come when the blame for those mistaken 
efforts must be apportioned. In any case, the writer 
hopes that the snake will never again be taken into 
England's bosom. 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 341 

When the writer determined to settle in Germany 
for a time, he visited the British Vice-Consul in 
Geneva, and was astonished to find that gentleman 
to be a German — Herr Stein. On arriving In 
Nuremberg, he found an American-German-British 
Vice-Consul, and if readers will take up " Whit- 
taker's Almanack" (large edition) for 1914, they 
will find that Great Britain had Germans acting as 
British Consuls throughout the German Empire and 
outside it. Considering the rivalry which existed be- 
tween the two countries, it was an Imperative neces- 
sity that native Englishmen should have represented 
this country. What England wanted was Impartial 
accounts of German feeling and national aims, as 
well as trade returns, and these could not be obtained 
from Germans. 

In 19 14 the British Consul in Nuremberg died, 
and several score (local report said about a hundred) 
German merchants scrambled to get the position. 
They were actuated not by any desire to serve this 
country, nor to earn money, for the position was 
honorary. But simply to obtain the title Herr Con- 
sul as a social and business asset. 

One of the Nuremberg candidates was a com- 
mercial traveller, and his employers offered to make 
him a partner in the firm (hop merchants) if he be- 
came British Consul. He was not appointed. 

The late Consul (Herr Ehrenbacher) was a Jew- 
ish hop merchant, who exported hops to these Islands. 



M2 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Certain circles In England have agitated for a tariff 
on hops, because it is alleged that the large import 
of hops from Nuremberg is ruining English hop- 
growers. How could Herr Ehrenbacher give im- 
partial reports on the hop trade when those reports 
might have led to a hostile tariff against his own 
business? This instance might be multiplied many 
times, but it will suffice to prove that our Consular 
system in Germany has been useless, possibly per- 
nicious. 

At home, Germans have taught in our naval and 
military colleges, Germans have examined candidates 
for both services, Germans have taught in our uni- 
versities and schools, Germans have held posts in our 
government and other public departments; In fact, 
the German is ubiquitous in English life. They can 
and should be replaced by qualified Englishmen. In- 
stead of maudlin internationalism, England must cul- 
tivate nationalism, or the present generation Is un- 
worthy of their splendid heritage. 

Germany has returned our fair-dealing and 
friendly overtures with low cunning, brute force, and 
hate. The hate is natural, because the two nations 
stand for opposite Ideals, and If both be honest, 
neither could love the other. Germany has pro- 
claimed to the world her love for peace, but the Teu- 
tonic conception of peace Is to be allowed to do what 
Germany likes, i.e., to imitate on an international 
scale the doings of robber knights. Her Kultur is 



THE SOUL OF GERMANY 34S 

at best merely the universal rule of the drill-sergeant. 

England has sought peace and been surprised by 
war, but the writer believes that she has right, jus- 
tice and the spirit of progress on her side; yet these 
alone cannot win the war. The writer is convinced 
from his knowledge of Germany, that It will be neces- 
sary for England to use her entire strength if she * 
desires to gain a decisive victory. 

The present war Is the result not only of con- 
flicting material Interests, but it is the clash of two 
great systems — Kultur and culture. England Is 
fighting for popular government against autocracy, 
English ideals of justice, English homes, and the ex- 
istence of the British Empire. It is a splendid stake, 
and a nation worthy of such a heritage should be 
inspired by a national enthusiasm — " to win off her 
own bat." 

Allies are welcome, but future generations of 
Britons must be able to say: *' Our forefathers 
built up their Empire, defended it against German 
aggression, and handed It down to us by their own 
might." Therefore, let England rely now on her- 
self and not on another nation's steam-roller. This 
IS a war against a nation of highly-trained, drilled, 
human tigers, whose motto Is saigner a blanc, whose 
chivalry and mercy are illustrated by fiendish laughter 
at the drowning struggles of non-combatant victims. 
If Germany is victorious her methods and principles 
will have overthrown all the humane ideals which 



S44 THE SOUL OF GERMANY 

Christianity has taken nearly twenty centuries to 
evolve. It is England's mission to prevent that catas- 
trophe and at the same time vindicate among nations 
the principles which she first taught to individuals — ■ 
the traditions of fair-play. 



APPENDIX I 

CRIME IN THE GERMAN ARMY AND NAVY 

THE standing army in 1913 consisted of 790,778 offi- 
cers and men; in the navy there were 66,500 officers 
and men, making a total for the two services of 857,278 
men under arms. Germany possesses a special penal code 
for her army and navy. 

The following are a few of the provisions of the code. 
Par. 124: assaulting a superior, not less than three years' 
imprisonment; if the assault is committed with any kind of 
weapon, the minimum punishment is five years. Par. 100: 
for inciting to insubordination, not less than five years' im- 
prisonment. Par. 69 punishes desertion with six months' to 
two years' imprisonment. Par. 121 forbids soldiers to be 
treated otherwise than according to the regulations; an 
offence against this law is punishable by imprisonment up 
to two years. For accepting presents, borrowing from in- 
feriors, N.C.O.'s may be condemned to arrest or imprison- 
ment up to two years. Par. 94 states that he who refuses 
to obey, or shows his unwillingness to obey by word or ges- 
ture or any action whatsoever, will be punished with im- 
prisonment up to three years. The possible sentence for 
self-mutilation (par. 81), in order to escape service in the 
army or navy, is, minimum one, maximum five years. Per- 
sons subject to military discipline who marry without the 
commanding officer's consent are liable (par. 150) to three 
months' fortress, in addition to which officers may be dis- 
missed the service. Illtreating soldiers or inferiors is pun- 

345 



346 



APPENDIX 



Ishable with one week's arrest up to two years' imprisonment. 

The peace strength of the German Army is: infantry, 
515,216; cavalry, 85,593; artillery, 126,042; pioneers, 24,- 
010; railway corps, 6,014; telegraph corps, 6,835; airship 
and flight department, 5,015; various, 1,018; train (heavy 
artillery), 11,597; special service, 3,825; non-regimental 
officers (General Staff, etc.), 5,551. The entire officers 
corps consists of 30,253 men, excluding reserve officers. 

In 1903 the German budget included thirty- three million 
pounds sterling for the army, or lis. 3d. per head of the 
entire population. In 19 12 the amount was forty-seven and 
a half millions, or 14s. 3d. per head. The English figures 
for the same years are: thirty-two millions, or 15s. 3d. per 
head, and twenty-eight and two-fifths millions, or 12s. 8d. 
per head. 

MILITARY OFFENCES 





Total sen- 




Without leave Disrespectful 


Disobe- 




tenced 


Desertion 


of absence behaviour 


dience 


19II 


16,691 


647 


1,669 892 


1,803 


I9I2 


17,045 


748 


1,783 821 


1,861 



Insulting Resisting Assaults on Offences Insulting 

superiors authority superiors against sentries inferiors 

1911 213 91 88 45 167 

1912 220 105 86 69 184 



Illtreating Inferiors 

1911 359 

1912 306 



Breaches of discipline by sentries 

95 
96 



OFFENCES AGAINST THE CIVIL CODE 

Breaches of Rapes, etc. Insults Duelling Malicious Theft 
public order wounding 

1911 149 76 293 76 1,310 435 

1912 173 75 272 75 1,226 42& 



APPENDIX 347 





Fraud, embezzlement and forgery 


Damage to property 


1911 


508 


112 


191a 


586 


119 



The author contends that these statistics do not support 
the hypothesis that militarism has been the main fount of 
crime in the Fatherland. Deducting 100,000 as represent- 
ing the educated classes (one-year men and officers), we 
have the remainder of 750,000 men from the German masses. 
Their offences during one year are by no means a bad record. 



APPENDIX II 

CRIME UNDER KULTUR AND CULTURE 

THE comparison between England and Germany's crime 
statistics is not made in any pharisaical spirit. But it 
is of interest in view of the fact that in the country where 
materialism, and its handmaiden, Social Democracy, have 
flourished, we find an appalling number of brutal crimes 
against the individual and his property. 

In order to anticipate a possible objection, it may be con- 
ceded at once that intemperance is more widespread in 
England than Germany. Germany's consumption of alco- 
hol is much smaller than the amount consumed in the British 
Isles, where spirits (whisky, brandy, etc.) are drunk in 
vastly greater quantities than Schnaps in the Fatherland. 

The author's frank opinion is that whatever ideals of 
life, whatever feelings of responsibility to God and man, 
existed in the German masses fifty years ago, have been 
undermined and overthrown by the pernicious teachings of 
Bebel, Marx, Singer, Engel, Siidekum, Liebknecht, Heine, 
and the remaining Jews and Gentiles who have exploited 
the innate envy of the German working classes. These 
leaders have destroyed what ideals and honourable stand- 
ards formerly existed, and have not replaced them by 
others, but in their place they have inoculated the multi- 
tude with atheism and class hatred. 

The following figures give the yearly averages for the 
British Isles (population 45,000,000) and Germany (popu- 

348 



APPENDIX S49 

latlon 66,000,000), over a period of twelve years, 1901- 
19 1 2 inclusive. 

German sources consulted were the Vierteljahrshefte, pub- 
lished by the Imperial Statistic Office, Berlin, principally 
Vols. 247 (issued in 19 12) and 267 (issued in 19 14). They 
may be seen in the British Museum Reading Room, press 
mark E. S. vii. b., and are the only sources which give com- 
plete, reliable statistics of crime in Germany. The Jahr- 
bilcher merely give summarized results, which led the only 
gentleman (Mr. Joseph McCabe) who ventured to criticize 
my figures into serious mis-statements. 

In earlier editions the German statistics quoted gave the 
total numbers of crimes in each class reported to the police, 
while the following figures for both the British Isles and 
Germany are the numbers of individuals actually convicted. 
Furthermore, the German figures do not include the crimes 
committed by soldiers and sailors in the German army and 
navy respectively. The British statistics include all persons 
convicted in these islands, whether civilians or otherwise, so 
that the ensuing comparison is still unintentionally favourable 
to the German side. 

Although Mr. McCabe stated, without a shred of proof, 
that crime had diminished in Germany, the Berlin authorities 
flatly contradict him. 

Vierteljahrsheftejt Vol. 247, Section II., p. I. *'If one 
considers the proportional numbers, then it becomes clear that 
in this period (1882-1910), the number of those convicted 
has considerably increased. In 1882 for every 100,000 of the 
population there were 996 convictions; in 19 10 the number 
had risen to 1,173." 

Again, in Vol. 267 (published in 1914), the Berlin officials 
state in their introduction that "criminality has Increased 
among the male population, but there has been a decrease 
in female criminality of .53% In 19 12. 



350 



APPENDIX 



"The curve representing crime among male youths (un- 
der 1 8 years of age) is at first fairly horizontal; but from 
the year 1888 till 1892 there was a terrible (jdh) rise, from 
which point it shows unimportant variations up till 1904. 
Again rising, it attained its highest point in 1906, after which 
it goes downward to 191 1, but in the report-year (1912) it 
has again gone up to the level of 190^." 

Where statistics are not accessible, the space has been left 
blank. 



Nature of Crime. 

Murder . 

Baby murder 

Manslaughter 

Killing without intent* 

Procuring abortion f 

Malicious and felonious wounding 

Malicious damage to property 

Arson .... 

Perjury .... 

Blackmail 



BRITISH ISLES 

(yearly 

average) 

* L 80 together 

'y Z16 together 
23 

1)213 

358 

278 

98 



GERMANY 

(yearly 
average) 

91 

142 

193 
680 

765 

125,386 

19,689 

610 

554 
716 



{ 
{ 



* E. g., a man kills another in a free fight. Before the court he 
maintains that he "had no intention to kill." The great majority of 
German manslaughter cases and "killings without Intent" would be 
classed as murder and punished by death under English law. In 
Germany the criminal is usually sentenced to imprisonment, from 
six months to four years. 

t The frequency of this crime is appalling, the number of con- 
victions rose from 457 in 1901, to 1,318 in 1912. During the twelve 
years under consideration only two persons were convicted of this 
crime in Ireland. 



APPENDIX 351 



BRITISH ISLES 


GERMANY 


Incest .••••• 


'. 


53 


489 


Unnatural crimes* 


• 


122 


648 


Rapes, defilement of imbeciles and 








girls under 14 . 


M 


789t 


5,310 


White slavery and procuration 


• 


27 


3,9oo1: 


Dissemination of indecent literature 


• 


— 


2,760 


Petitions for divorce 


. 


96s 


20,340 



Illegitimacy . v . . > . 48,702 178,115 

*The German figures for 1912 in Vol. 267, p. 292, are: 
Indecency with males, 611 charges, 536 convictions. 
" " animals, 390 " 319 " 

t Including 408 cases of indecent assault. Further, the British 
statistics include offences against girls under 16; offences against 
girls above 14 do not appear to be included in the German fig- 
ures, but they include over 2,000 crimes on girls under 14. 

The German report classifies these crimes Unzucht mit Geivalt 
(immorality with violence), which would seem to mean that the 
whole of the total 5,310 refers to violations. The British average 
for the latter crime is 146. 

t Under this head, 487 husbands and parents were charged, and 
379 convicted, for procuring their own wives or children, in 1912. 



British statistics were compiled from the publications of 
the Home Office ; Judicial Statistics for Ireland, Dublin, and 
Judicial Statistics of Scotland, Edinburgh. 



INDEX 



Abolition of serfdom in Ger- 
many, 35, 86. 

Advice to Free Church Minis- 
ters, 330. 

Agitation for German naval ex- 
pansion, 298 et seq. 

Agreement between England 
and Germany, 314, 320. 

Aims, German national, 279, 
281, 301, 324. 

of German Schools, 18, 21, 

35-6. 

of Universities, 41. 



Americans in Germany, 261. 

Angell, Norman, 103-4, 310. 

Anti-Treitschke, 177, 191. 

Apostle of Germanism, 185, 187. 

Arbitration, 201-2, 314, 337 et 
seq. 

Armaments, increased, replace 
war, 178, 180, 334. 

Army, German, 106 et seq. 

, crime in, 345-7 et seq. 

Attitude of England to Ger- 
many, 258, 325, 341. 

Attitude of Germany to Eng- 
land, 281, 306, 310, 314, 344- 

Author's German experience, ix. 
et seq. 

Bernhardi, General von, 334- 

5- 
Biography of the Kaiser, 282, 

320. 
Boer War, 189-190. 

, incident during, 330. 

British Consuls in Germany, 

248-9, 340-341- 
Brutality of German nation, 

236-240. 
Brutality among students, 53-6. 
in the German army, 115- 

122. 



Bullies, student, 68-9. 
Bullying, German, 259, 281, 341. 

Chamberlain, Mr. Joseph, 309- 

10, 325. 
Character, German, 88, 90, 102, 

134, 286, 342. _ 
Character training, 29-31. 
Churches, Free, 63, 328 et seq., 

337- 

, German, 60 et seq., 328. 

Churchill, Mr. Winston, 248, 
258, 317, 322-3, 326. 

Classification of German sol- 
diers, 109. 

Clubs, students'. 48-59, 68. 

Crime among the young, 239. 

in England and Germany, 

347 etseq. 

in Germany, 232 et seq. 

in German Army and 



Navy, 345-7. 

Cologne Gazette, 192, 210. 

Conception, German, of Eng- 
land, 32-3. _ 

Confidence trick, 244-261. 

Contempt for human feelings, 

96- 
Contradictions, 313. 

Contrast of English and Ger- 
man crime statistics, 347 ^/J^J^ 

Conscription, 106. 

Corps, students', (vide Clubs. 

Courts-martial, 122-3, 127, 130. 

Crown Prince of Germany, 131, 
221, 235, 273. 

Delbruck, Professor, on arbi- 
tration, 313. 
, on England, 308-9, 315- 



16. 



-, on English hate, 300. 



353 



S54i 



INDEX 



Delbriick, Professor, on German 

navy, 3i3-i4> 3i6. 

, on German officers, 131. 

, on Poland, 198. 

, on Social Democrats, 307- 

8. 
-, on war, 332-5. 



Delusion, the Great, 338. 
Democrats, Social, 2, 18, 24, 74- 
85, 116-117, 161, 174, 233-5, 

275-6,. 3.37, 348. 
Denunziation (Tale-telling), 

27-8, 120. 
Deserters, 107. 
Discipline, 21, 25, 108, 114-15, 

121. 
Divine right of kings, 266-272. 
Divorce, 12, 231-2. 
Dowry, marriage, 9-11. 
Duelling, 53-6. 
Duplicity, German, 191-3, 285, 

330. 

Education of boys, it et seq. 

of girls, 3-5. 

Egoism, 137-143. 

England, cowardly, 166, 178. 

England's attitude to Germany, 

258, 325, 340. 
English envy of Germany, 300, 

312, 324- 
Expansion, German, 258-60, 266, 
301. 

Fleet, German, 278-283, 289 et 

seq. 
Free Churches, 328 et seq., 337. 
Freedom of the Press, 125. 

of speech, 255. 

of the seas, 324. 

Friendship, Anglo-German, 32, 

66, 94-5. 309, 3i5i 320, 326, 
336. 
Funeral rites, 113. 

German brutality, 53-6, 115- 
122, 236-240. 

bullying, 259, 282, 342. 

German character, 88, 90, 102, 

134, 286, 342. 

Churches, 6x et seq., 328. 



German envy, 203. 

expansion, 258-60, 266, 30i» 

homes, 2, 12-16. 

manners, 89, 95. 

schools, 17 et seq. 

unity, 156, 162. 

universities, 37 et seq. 

Germans in England, loi, 341. 

sing English National 

Anthem, 331. 

Germany, most religious coun- 
try, 330. 

Germany's attitude to England, 
281, 306, 310, 314, 341. 

" Goose-step," 125. 

Hague Conferences, 339-40. 
Hardie, Mr. Keir, 75, 83, 176, 

232, 252, 268. 
Hatred for England, 21-3, 123, 

164, 263. 
Herrenmoral, Nietzsche's, 5, 

loo-ioi, 150. 
Home life, 15. 
Homes, German, 2, 12-16. 
Humanity in warfare, 189-190. 

Idea, the German, 105. 
Ignorance of the pacifists, 335. 
Illtreatment of soldiers, 115— 

122. 
Immorality, 98-102, 220. 
Individual, the, 138 et seq. 
Influence of religion, 6o-i. 
Ingratitude, German, 101. 
Instruction, religious, 22-3. 

about England, 31-3. 

Insults, 91-3. 

Iron Cross, 244, 249. 

Jews, 83, 223, 348. 
Joy of destruction, 298. 
Junker class, 276-7. 

Kaiser Wilhelm II., 32-3, 51. 

66, 256, 262 et seq. 
Kant, Immanuel, 137. 
Kultur, 47, 224 et seq., 332, 343, 

Lasson, Professor, on Kultur, 
224-6. 



INDEX 



355 



Latent war, 193. 
League, German Navy, 304-7. 
Liberty in Germany, 268-9. 
Life in restaurants, 15-16, in. 
Lotteries, Church, 71-3. 

Macdonald, Mr. Ramsay, 75, 

83, 232, 252, 268. 
Malicious wounding, 236. 
Manchester School, 180. 
Manners, German, 89, 95. 
Marriage in Germany, 6, 8-12, 

M. P.'s, English, in Germany, 

251-2. 
Michaelis, Dr. Paul, 227, 241, 

321- 
Militarism, popularity of, 106, 

132-3, 334. 
Military courts, 122-3, 128, 131. 

penal code, 345. 

Minister for Church and School 

Affairs, 62-4, 70, 72. 
Mobilization of German array, 

272-3- 
Money, Mr. Chiozza, 241. 
Murder without passion, 183, 

190, 203. 

Navy League, German, 304-7. 

literature, German, 299 et 

seq., 305. 

" Nauticus' Naval Year-Book," 

311-12. 
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 143-7. 

, on war, 151. 

Nietzsche's Herrenmoral, 5, 100, 

loi, 150. 

influence, 97, 153, 169-170. 

superman, 148 et seq. 

teachings, 148-152. 

Oath for officials, 36, 46-7, 6S. 
Officers in German army, 123- 

131- 

of the reserve, 113. 

Official secrets, 36, 120. 
Oppression of Poland, 177, 197- 

200. 

Pacifists, 201-3, 317, 335 et seq. 



Palmerston, Lord, and German 

flag, 289, 293, 324. 
Parade step, 125. 
Parsons, political, 65-6. 
Parties in the Reichstag, 80. 
Pastors (Pfarrer), 65-7, 69. 
Peace, 201, 335 et seq. 
Peace-Pipe-Smokers, 201. 
Peasant homes, 12. 
Philosophy of egoism, 137-143. 
Piety, 70. 

Poland, 177, 197-200. 
Popularity of militarism, 106, 

132-3, 334- 
Press, German, 208-223. 

gag, 214. 

Professors, influence of, 42-6. 

limitations, 45-8, 157. 

Property, damage to, 240. 
Prussian character, 104, 228-9, 

283. 
Punishment, corporal, 25-6. 

in schools, 73-4. 

Quarrels, religious, 22. 
Quarrelsome nature of Ger- 
mans, 13, 92, 134-7- 

Rapes in peace time, 231. 

Reichstag, 172-4, 247. 

Religion in Germany, 60 et seq. 

in schools, 73-4. 

, its influence, 60-1. 

Religious instruction, 22-4, 33-4. 

quarrels, 22. 

Responsibility for war, 177, 274, 

332. 
Restaurants, 15-16, in. 
Reventlow, Count, 276-280, 297- 

8, 309-10, 319-20, 339. 
Roberts, Elmer (quoted), 81, 

321. 

Schools, elementary, 18-23. 

, girls', 3-4. 

, secondary, 24-36. 

Schoolmasters, 29-30, 36. 
Secret societies in schools, 34-5. 
Sensitiveness, morbid, of Ger- 
mans, 91-2, 102, 186-7. 
Shaw, Mr. Bernard, 252-3, 268. 



656 



INDEX 



Simpltcissimus, 190, 221-3. 
Social Democrats, 2, 18, 24, 75- 

85, H6-117, 161, 174, 233-5, 

275-6,^ 337, 348. 
Social life, 93-4. 
Socialists, English, 75, 233, 252- 

5» 336. 
Societies, secret, in schools, 34-5. 
Soldiers, full-time, 1 13-121. 

one-year, 109 et seq. 

Spies, 101, 192-4. 

Sport, 21-22, 28-29. 
Stirner, Max, 138-141. 
Students in universities, 38 et 
seq. 

' manners, 57-9. 

! of divinity, 67-70. 

— — societies, 48 et seq. 
Suffrage, German, 173, 247. 
Suicides, 240. 

in German army, 121. 

Superman, Nietzsche's, 148 et 

seq. 
Swelled-head, 139, 266. 
System, English 'versus German, 

168, 348. 



Tale-telling, 27-8, 120. 

Tirpitz, von, 279-80. 

Titles, German love of, 7, 245- 



Treaties not binding, 194-6. 
Treitschke, Heinrich von, 153- 

163. 
Treitschke on armaments, 179- 

180. 

on England, 165-6, 203-6. 

on Holland, 196-7. 

on small States, 158, 179. 

on treaties, 193-5. 

on Turkey, 206. 

Treitschke's influence, 96, 162, 

167, 169-170. 

message, 162. 

State, 170-2. 

Types of German schools, 24. 

Unity, German, 156, 162, 290. 
Universal service, 106-9. 
Universities, German, 37 et seq. 

Volunteers, one-year, 109-113. 

War, 151, 182-4, 331 ^t seq. 
War, Boer, 189-190. 

incident during, 30. 

Who pays for armaments, 337. 
Women, position of German, 5- 

6. 
World Empire, German, 281-2. 
Wounding malicious, 236. 

Young, crime among the, 239. 



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- ■■ 

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THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE . 
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dom Come." It is a life rude, semi-barbarous; but natural 
and honest, from which often springs the flower of civilization. 

" Chad." the "little shepherd" did not know who he wasnor 
whence he came — he had just wandered from door to door since 
early childhood, seeking shelter with kindly mountaineers who 
gladly fathered and mothered this waif about whom there was 
such a mystery — a charming waif, by the way, who could play 
the banjo better that anyone else in the mountains, 

A-KNIGHT OF THE CUMBERLAND. / 

Illustrated by F. C. Yohn. 

The scenes are laid along the waters of the Cumberland* 
the lair of moonshiner and f eudsman. The knight is a moon- 
shiner's son, and the heroine a beautiful girl perversely chris- 
tened "The Blight." Two impetuous young Southerners' fall 
under the spell of "The Blight's " charms and she learns what 
a large part jealousy and pistols have in the love making of the 
mountaineers. 

Included in this volume is " Hell fer-Sartain" and other 
stories, some of Mr. Fox's most entertaining Cumberland valley 
narratives. 



Ask for complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted Fiction 



Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York. 



STORIES OF WESTE RN LIFE 

May be had whsrever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list 

RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, By Zane Grey, 
Illustrated by Douglas Duer. 

In this picturesque romance of Utah of some forty years ago, we 
ire permitted to see the unscrupulous methods employed by the in- 
^ible hand of the Mormon Church to break the will of those refuse 
ing to cc»nform to its rule. 

FRIAR TUCK, By Robert Alexander Wason. 
Illustrated by Stanley L. Wood. 

Happy Hawkins tells us, in his humorous way, how Friar Tuck 
lived among the Cowboys, how he adjusted their quarrels and love 
affairs and how he fought with them and for them when occasion, 
required. 

THE SKY PILOT, By Ralph Connor. 

Illustrated by Louis Rhead. 

There is no novel, dealing with the rough existence of cowboys, 
so charming in the telling, abounding as it does with the freshest and 
the truest pathos. 

THE EMIGRANT TRAIL, By Geraldine Bonner. 

Colored frontispiece by John Rae. 

The book relates the adventures of a party on its overland pil- 
grimage, and the birth and growth of the absorbing love of two strong 
men for a charming heroine. 

THE BOSS OF WIND RIVER , By A. M. Chisholm. 

Illustrated by Frank Tenney Johnson. 

This is a strong, virile novel with the lumber industry for its cen- 
tral theme and a love story full of interest as a sort of subplot. 

A PRAIRIE COURTSHIP, By Harold Bindloss. 

A story of Canadian prairies in which the hero is stirred, through 
the influence of his love for a woman, to settle down to the heroic 
business of pioneer farming. 

JOYCE OF THE NORTH WOODS , By Harriet T. Comstock. 

illu^rated by John Cassel. 

A story of the deep woods that shows the power of love at work 
among its primitive dwellers. It is a tensely moving study of the 
human heart and its aspirations that unfolds itself through thrilhng 
situations and dramatic developments. 

Ask for a complete free list of G, & D. Popular Co^t/righted Fiction 

»^ i .i-.-i I ■■■■■■■■-. - ■■ I ' " * 

Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York 



H82 89 



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